The Turks are going into a new delusion, targeting Imia. What they say:
“Turkey and Greece reached the brink of war in January 1996 over the rocks of Imia. This development made the Turkish public familiar with the problem of unspecified islands and reefs in the Aegean Sea.
Since then, the rocks of Imia became a turning point. Because if these rocks are left in Greece, Turkey will have to give up its rights in the Aegean.
To put it more clearly, Turkey will have confirmed that the “Minutes of the Meeting”, drawn up on 28 December 1932 and defining the areas of maritime sovereignty in the Dodecanese region outside the island of Kastelorizo, is a binding document.
Greece will use the document to formalize its claim to sovereignty over the islets and reefs that have the same status as the Imia reefs. This will give Greece the opportunity to further expand the borders of the territorial waters it claims in the Aegean.
As is well known, the Treaty of Lausanne of July 24, 1923 established the legal status of the islands in the Aegean Sea. Under Article 15 of this Treaty, 13 islands in the Dodecanese and Maine were left to Italy.
The Italian and Turkish authorities met in Ankara on December 28, 1932 to resolve the issue of subordination to the islets and rocks in the Dodecanese region. The technical delegations from both countries prepared a “Meeting Minutes” in which they describe their work on the subject. This Archive was initialed by technicians who had no authority under their own legal system. The document contained only the negotiations and their results, reflecting a technical consensus.
Correspondence was held between the Turkish and Italian authorities to formalize the minutes of the meeting. No results were obtained from 9 letters sent between January 4, 1933 and January 8, 1937.
Therefore, this document was not signed by the Italian and Turkish states. It has therefore not been approved by the parliaments of the countries concerned and has not entered into force under international law.
When we reach the aftermath of World War II, we meet the Treaty of Paris of February 10, 1947, between the Allied Powers and the defeated states of Italy, but without the signature of Turkey. This Treaty confirms that the sovereignty of the 14 islands and islets in the Dodecanese region has passed from Italy to Greece.
Now, read the next section carefully and take notes.
Starting with the Paris Agreement, Greece recalls that the minutes of the Italy-Turkey meeting of December 28, 1932 were signed by Italian technicians and claims that the rights acquired by Italy passed to them.
The Greeks base this document on the Minutes of the Meeting prepared by the Turkish and Italian technicians who met in Ankara on June 18, 1931 to discuss the island of Kastelorizo and the surrounding islets.
This document was the basis for the Ankara Agreement signed between Turkey and Italy on January 4, 1932. The Greek authorities recall that this agreement proves who owns the island of Mays and the islets and rocks around it.
They also accept the minutes of December 28, 1932, which were prepared by Turkish and Italian technicians gathered to solve the problem of islands and rocks in the Dodecanese region, but were not approved by the competent states and have not gained legal force, as a continuation. . of the Ankara Convention. They claim that the document that solves the problem of the island of Kastelorizo and the surrounding islands also applies to the region of the Dodecanese.
When we take into account the Greek allegation and examine the minutes of the meeting of 28 December 1932, it will appear that there is no evidence to indicate that this is a continuation of the Ankara Convention of 4 January 1932.
The Minutes of the Assembly were not approved by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey with an article of law such as the Ankara Convention. The minutes of the meeting remained as minutes. It makes no sense other than being an incomplete preparatory document.
To summarize, while Greece was claiming the islets and rocks in the Dodecanese region, it quotes a memorandum of December 28, 1932, which was not ratified and is not valid from the point of view of international law.
