“Outpost of Europe in the East”: Kastellorizo Archipelago in Context of Italian Policy in West Mediterranean in 1912 -1932

Abstract

The history of the diplomatic struggle for control of Kastellorizo archipelago, a small group of Islands off the southwest coast of Turkey, is examined. It is reported that the establishment of British control over Cyprus (1878), the Italian-Turkish war of 1911-1912 radically changed the balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean and increased the strategic importance of the archipelago located at the intersection of sea routes from the Aegean sea and the Western Mediterranean to Cyprus and the coast of the Levant. It is noted that Italy, which occupied the rest of the Dodecanese Islands, and Greece, which referred to the ethnic composition of the population of the archipelago, showed special interest in possessing the archipelago of Castellorizo. The article analyzes in detail the policy of Italy and Greece related to the Islands, as well as the role of France and the UK in the diplomatic struggle around the archipelago. The author managed to identify the main stages of the diplomatic struggle around Castellorizo, to show the special interest of Italy to possession of Castellorizo, which was considered by the Italians as “Outpost of Europe in the East.” It is proved that the final establishment of Italian sovereignty over the Islands (1923) led to the fact that the archipelago almost completely disappeared from international relations and was subsequently considered only as part of the Dodecanese Islands. The article is based on Italian and Greek official publications of diplomatic documents.