 NASA image from 2003 showing Garip Islands and nearbyKalem Island | |
 | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Turkey, Aegean Sea |
| Coordinates | 39°0′23″N26°47′8″E / 39.00639°N 26.78556°E /39.00639; 26.78556 |
| Administration | |
Garip Island consists of two islands (the larger island is 88 acres) off the coast ofDikiliilçe inİzmir Province,Turkey. Together they are called theGarip Islands (Turkish:Garip Adaları), at the cut point of Dikili's Bademli Bay. Both islands face theGreek island ofLesbos.
The islands are at39°00′N26°47′E / 39.000°N 26.783°E /39.000; 26.783, just to the west ofKalem Island. The distance between the two is about 500 metres (1,600 ft). It has a surface area of 357,731.84 square meters.[1] The nearest point on the mainland (Anatolia) is about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the north east. In antiquity these islands, along with a third island that has now joined the mainland, were known as theArginusae; they were the site of theBattle of Arginusae in 406 BC.
In TurkishGarip can mean ‘weird’, ‘strange’ or ‘desolate’ among other meanings.
Offered for sale under a single title deed in 2006, the islands were sold to Fiyapı, a Turkish development group in 2010.[2] No construction was undertaken on the islands.[3]
In 2007 the Guardian newspaper in the UK published a story claiming that a group on the Greek island of Lesbos planned to buy the island, but the sale was never completed.[4] Since 2016, the island is owned by theSavings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey.[5]
In 2015 an international group of archaeologists claimed that Garip Island was a lost island in the eastern Aegean that was once home to the ancient city ofKane (Canae).[6]
