.jpeg) Aerial photograph of İmralı | |
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  İmralı Location of İmralı within Marmara Region Show map of Marmara İmralı Location of İmralı within Turkey Show map of Turkey | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Sea of Marmara |
| Coordinates | 40°32′15″N28°32′06″E / 40.53750°N 28.53500°E /40.53750; 28.53500 |
| Area | 9.98 km2 (3.85 sq mi) |
| Coastline | 19.4 km (12.05 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 217 m (712 ft) |
| Highest point | Türk Tepesi |
| Administration | |
Turkey | |
| Region | Marmara region |
| Province | Bursa Province |
| District | Mudanya |
İmralı is a smallTurkishprison island in the south of theSea of Marmara, west of theArmutlu-Bozburun peninsula withinBursa Province. It measures 8 kilometres (5 miles) in the north–south direction with a width of 3 kilometres (2 miles), and has an area of 9.98 square kilometres (3.85 sq mi). The highest peak isTürk Tepesi at an altitude of 217 metres (712 feet)above sea level. It is prohibited to fly over it or fish near its shores.
In antiquity, it was a member of theDelian League since it appears in tribute records ofAthens between 434/3 and 418/7 BCE.[1] The Roman authorsPliny the Elder andStrabo called the islandBesbicus (Ancient Greek:Βέσβικος),[2] while inMediaeval times, it was known asCalonymus (Greek:Καλώνυμος).
TheTurkish nameİmralı derives from the name of the island's conqueror, Emir Ali, one of the firstOttoman admirals. In 1308 İmralı became the first island to be conquered by the newly establishedOttoman Navy. Its strategic location enabled the Ottomans to control the movement of ships in the Sea of Marmara with a naval base established on it, cutting theByzantine Empire's connection toBursa. The island is also referred as "Mir Ali" in Ottoman documents. The island was also a place of refuge for the runaways of theDevshirme System. For example in 1567, a group of runaways was protected and hidden by the locals of Mir Ali Island while the batches of children were being transported from the port of Dutlimanı inBandırma.[3]
In 1913, the island had 250 houses, a school, three monasteries, and 1,200 residents, all of whom were Greeks. The economic activity of the island's residents consisted mainly of fishing and farming onions, with most of the grown onions sold to Istanbul. There were threeGreek villages on the island, engaged mostly in growing grapes,winemaking,silk production and fishing, until theTurkish War of Independence (1919–1923). One well-known islander wasKimon Friar who emigrated to theUnited States and became a scholar and translator ofGreek languagepoetry.[4] The island was depopulated by the 1923 forcedpopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey and remained uninhabited for thirteen years.
In 1936, the Turkish government opened a newly semi-openprison,[5] where the prisoners earned money by working in agriculture and fishing. Following the1960 Turkish coup d'état, the deposed Prime MinisterAdnan Menderes was imprisoned, tortured, and executed on the island.[6] From 1999 until 2009, the now-maximum-security prison housed a single inmate,Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of thePKK.[7] All the other prisoners on the island had been transferred to mainland Turkey.[8] In November 2009, several other prisoners, including four members of the PKK and oneTKP/ML, were transferred to a newly constructed building.
There is now a military base on the island and the surrounding area is a forbidden zone.
Media related toİmralı at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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| Geographic | |
