Good Neighbours
Kastelorizo, also known as Megisti, is a small frontier island located in the Eastern Aegean Sea, less than 1.5 nautical miles off the shores of Turkey and 72 nautical miles east of the Greek island of Rhodes. According to the official census, its population is less than 500 people.
The island's long history can be traced back to prehistoric times, for which there are remains that speak of a developed civilization. During the Middle Ages, after having been occupied by the Knights Hospitaller, it became a place of exile. In that period it was renamed as "Kastelorizo", a corruption of the Italian "Castello Rosso" (Red Castle). As Kastelorizo came under Turkish occupation, it gradually became a prosperous center of commercial navigation. After the 1821 Greek Revolution, the island was disputed between the French, the Italian and the English and was finally united with Greece in 1947, after many lootings and the massive emigrations, but also returns, of its inhabitants.
Today, the island is once again a cause of controversy between Greece and Turkey. The issues of air and sea border violations and the designation of the Exclusive Economic Zone in this borderline point of the Aegean Sea create a climate of provocation between the two countries and stress the need to settle differences. Kastelorizo, an eternal symbol of Greece's encounter with other civilizations, is once again the point of reference for the redefinition of the country's relations with Turkey, while, at the same time, its inhabitants still safeguard its long history.