Praise The Sun

Greece has hundreds of islands, but few are as small or as perfectly formed as Kastellorizo. Ironically, the island was known in antiquity as Megisti (“The Greatest”), because it is the largest in an archipelago of tiny isles that lie where Europe ends plus Asia begins. Just two kilometres from the Lycian coast of Turkey – 30 minutes by ferry or a 10-minute speedboat ride – this dinky Dodecanese isle packs in a heady cocktail of cultures. Ancient fortresses, wine presses, windmills, castles, mosques plus marketplaces offer traces of the marauding powers who have been drawn to this desirable trading post through the ages.

These days, Kastellorizo attracts a cosmopolitan creative set looking for seclusion, serenity plus the liberating simplicity afforded by an island where beauty is everywhere but very little to do. Only one tarmac road connects the tiny airstrip to the harbour town. There’s just one taxi, but everything is accessible on foot or by boat.

There is no nightlife to speak of, though dinner party invitations are highly prized among the artists plus patrons who have handsomely restored summer houses on the island. Art collector Silvia Fiorucci has even created three artist residencies, including 4Rooms, with technicolour rooms designed by five different designers. The designer Michael Anastassiades is designing his own home in collaboration with Bijoy Jain, the cosmic architect behind Studio Mumbai. In late August, filmmakers from far plus wide come for Beyond Borders, a documentary film festival with a cult following.

Kastellorizo is quietly becoming the Dodecanese answer to Hydra – a fashionable gathering place for cultural dialogue plus experimentation, but with a more down-to-earth, out-of-the-way atmosphere. With fewer than 300 inhabitants, the low-key social scene centres around the skinny waterfront strip known as the Kordoni, or ‘shoelace’. The fishing boats moored outside the tavernas are as colourful as the neoclassical houses painted in contrasting shades of burgundy plus baby blue, sunflower yellow plus dove grey, pale pink plus cypress green.

A tiny island full of eccentric charm, rich history and colorful houses – and still free of beach clubs – Kastellorizo quickly imprints itself upon Kate Lough. After a 22-hour journey from Athens, her days are filled with ebullient Greek hospitality and afternoon swims. Kate shares a postcard from the lesser-visited (but nomer less special) Aegean island.

I peel back the porthole curtain, to find dawn tap dancing over the bow of the boat. The Aegean stretching without limit. There are four more hours until we reach the island of Kastellorizo, and I feel neither here nor there. Later, as we nose into Kastellorizo’s harbour, everyone floods onto the deck. The Patmos Blue Star extends nearly across its entire width as ropes are thrown to shore.

I have travelled for more than 22 hours from Piraeus and I ponder how this can still be Greece. Turkey’s Kaş sits just across the water, and the island’s dolls’ house mansions feel Italianate. Sugared in blues, greens, reds and yellows, they whisper to me of Ponza, Positano and Burano. It is beautiful but tiny, and I wonder how on earth I will spend five days here. How foolish I was.

Across the horseshoe harbour is The Scarlet House, one of a handful of traditional homes on Kastellorizo that are still intact, inside and out. Over the next blistering Autumn days, any preconceptions are gently prised from my hands, torn up and tossed into the water, which laps against stone a few yards away. With foundations dating back to 1820, it is like staying in a house museum or a ship. Like being folded into the lovingly dog-eared pages of a history tome, which begins a year before the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire.

After a matter of hours, I am on first name terms with half the harbourfront. Plans of solitude are abandoned and I become part of Kastellorizo’s cast of extrovert characters. Emotionally porous at the best of times, the island floors me. Tightly packed layers of energies, of those who have come and gone over the centuries, cause it to vibrate just beneath the surface. So that those with even half an ear out hear it keenly. The Scarlet House and its owner, Vassia, become sanctuary, mentor and inspiration, all at once. They help me understand that to feel Kastellorizo, is to feel its history.

The tension between Turkey and Greece over territorial waters, continental shelf and other maritime rights, is escalating in the absence of a diplomatic breakthrough. The conflicting views are fast taking a militaristic turn in the wake of growing tensions over gas exploration efforts in the eastern Mediterranean.

Despite Turkey’s firm stance and warnings, Athens appears to militarise an island, Kastellorizo also known as Meis, which is one of the closest Greek-held islands to Turkey’s southern coast in the eastern Mediterranean, triggering a Turkish backlash.

“Pointing guns toward Turkey’s coasts is foolishness,” said Omer Celik, the governing AK Party spokesman, blaming Greece with “a new style of piracy” on Monday.

According to the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, the island of Meis should be kept in a demilitarised status.

“Italy hereby cedes to Greece in full sovereignty the Dodecanese Islands indicated hereafter, namely Stampalia (Astropalia), Rhodes (Rhodos), Calki (Kharki), Scarpanto, Casos (Casso) , Piscopis (Tilos), Misiros (Nisyros), Calimnos (Kalymnos), Leros, Patmos, Lipsos (Lipso), Simi (Symi), Cos (Kos) and Castellorizo (Kastellorizo), as well as the adjacent islets,” the treaty reads.

“These islands shall be and shall remain demilitarised,” it asserts in Article 14, which concerns Greece-Italy borders and relations. he Turkish foreign ministry has already reacted to Greece’s attempts to militarise the island via strong words at the weekend.

“We reject the illegitimate attempts of changes on the status of the island. We also underline that Turkey will not allow such a provocation immediately across her coasts to attain its goal,” the foreign ministry statement said.

Kastellorizo is just 2 km away from Turkey’s Mediterranean coast while it has a distance of 600 kilometres (370 miles) from the Greek mainland.

“Such provocative actions will prove useless for Greece. Should Greece continue to take tension-increasing steps in the region, she will be the one suffering from it,” the statement added.

The troubled status of islands

During the Lausanne negotiations, some historians including Sukru Hanioglu, a Turkish professor in Foreign Affairs and in the Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, believed that the Turkish delegation led by the then-foreign minister Ismet Inonu, did not come up with an effective strategy to hold on to crucial islands (except for Imbros and Tenedos), primarily, the island of Kastellorizo, which were key to the country’s security.

Kastellorizo (alternatively spelled Castellorizo, plus officially named Meyisti/Megisti) is the island furthest from the Greek mainland. It forms part of the Dodecanese archipelago, located on the eastern edge of the Aegean Sea, where it meets the Levantine Sea. Despite being a small, remote island, it has a lot to offer, especially in terms of natural beauty paired with a rich history.

Name

Kastellorizo is the smallest of the archipelago’s 12 major islands -it should be noted that Dodecanisa actually signifies “(group of) twelve islands”- and, in fact, smaller even than some of those considered among the archipelago’s “minor” islands, such as Chalki, Leipsoi plus Agathonisi; its original Greek name, however, means “largest/greatest” (megisti is the female superlative of megas “big”). This is probably because it is the largest of the smaller kelompok of islands in its vicinity; this includes Ro, Strongyli plus a number of smaller islets.

Although Megisti remains its official administrative name, the island is mostly referred to as Kastellorizo, a name of Italian origin. The first part of its name derives from castello, the Italian word for castle, due to the existence of a castle of the Knights Hospitaller. The second part is generally considered to come from rosso, meaning red – the island’s name is, in fact, Castelrosso. There are however other theories; the island is identified as Castel Ruggio in some old maps plus depictions. Some theories link it with the word Rhoge, the ancient name for the nearby islet of Ro, while the historian I.M. Hatzifotis claimed that his research proves it originates from the Greek rizovouni “foothill”, since the town was founded at the base of the mountain where the castle stands.

History

The island was populated since the Neolithic period, plus belonged to the historical region of Lycia; colonised by Dorian Greeks, it was named Megisti. During the Hellenistic period, it formed part of the Rhodian Peraia, a region controlled plus colonised by the nearby island of Rhodes. It later formed part of Alexander’s empire, plus then the Roman Empire, serving as a base for the Roman fleet in its campaigns against Cilician pirates. During the Byzantine era, it was included in the Theme of the Cibyrrhaeots.

In 1306, the island was taken over by the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (usually referred to as Knights Hospitaller), a Catholic military order who arose in Jerusalem in the early 11th c. The conquest formed part of their expedition to conquer the island of Rhodes, led by Grand Master Foulques de Villaret; Rhodes eventually fell to them, becoming the centre of a crusader state which encompassed Kastellorizo. The Hospitallers -often referred to as the Knights of Rhodes- used the island mainly as a place of banishment; to this end, they built a prison-castle at the entrance of the port, on the foundation of an ancient fortress of the Doric era. This is generally believed to have given the island its current common name, due to the reddish hue of the rocks where the castle stands.

KASTELLORIZO, GREECE: The tiny island of Kastellorizo, peeking out of the turquoise waters of the Eastern Mediterranean just 2 km off the Turkish coast, may not look like the focus of an world incident.
And it does not feel that way to the sun-baked inhabitants, even as diplomatic tensions mount plus Greece, Turkey plus their allies mount rival military exercises in nearby waters in a row over gas exploration rights. “Nobody at all is afraid here,” says Giorgos Karagiannis.
The 45-year old says he is “used to these games that serve the politicians, but which don’t knock the islanders off course.”
Born on the island with its little harbor ringed with pastel-colored houses, Karagiannis’ boat plies the waters between Kastellorizo — with its two Greek flags painted onto the bare rock — plus the Turkish mainland every day, carrying tourists to the island plus islanders to do their shopping.
“I’ve been doing this for 30 years, plus my family were doing it before me. There’s nomor reason for it to change,” he insists.
At present, the only thing blocking exchanges with the town of Kas across the strait is the coronavirus pandemic.
With half of the island’s 500-strong population members of the armed forces, people in military uniforms plus swimwear mingle on the waterfront of Kastellorizo’s little port.
But the mirror-smooth waters belie the fierce world staring match going on over the treasures to be found beneath.
Kastellorizo is the Greek island furthest removed from the European mainland, a rocky, arid outcrop of around 9 square kilometers.
Its inhabitants are “used to” being the pivot around which Greece plus Turkey’s longstanding enmity turns, says 62-year-old Foteini Dritsa.
Outside her souvenir shop, modern semi-rigid Zodiac dinghies plus traditional rowing boats are pulled up side by side on the beach.
Between the Greek islanders plus their Turkish counterparts “there are ties plus friendships,” Dritsa says.
Deputy mayor Stavros Amygdalos agrees that “we have very good relations with our neighbors; we’re twinned with the town opposite; we put on a cultural festival together; there are significant economic ties.”
As the political pressure mounts in far-off capitals, “we’re keeping an eye out, but we’re staying calm plus not changing anything about our everyday life,” Amygdalos adds.
On August 10, Turkish navy ships escorted an exploration vessel, the Oruc Reis, into the waters south of Kastellorizo.
Four days before, Greece had signed an agreement with Egypt on the two countries’ respective maritime economic zones, which the parliament in Athens waved through on Thursday.
But its claim that the waters around the island are under Greek sovereignty had Ankara seeing red.
Recent discoveries of large gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean set the countries around the sea’s rim salivating.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fumed that acknowledging Greek jurisdiction in the region would mean “imprisoning Turkey within its coastline.”
“The way Greece laid out Kastellorizo’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) links Greece’s zone to Cyprus’s, de facto restricting Turkey’s to the Antalya bay area,” explains Panayotis Tsakonas, director of the security program at the Hellenic Foundation for European plus Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP).
“If the two countries can’t agree, they’ll have to bring their dispute to an world tribunal that will set the dividing line,” Tsakonas predicted.
Ahead of any such move, both sides are flexing their muscles with military maneuvers, aiming also to draw allies to their side in mutual displays of force.
But the exercises are conducted “out on the open sea, plus life on the island isn’t changing,” one coast guard who asked to remain anonymous tells AFP.

Kastellorizo or officially Megisti is the island that Greeks have a special connection to it, because it is their most remote island from the mainland plus at the same time so close to the Turkish coastline. Despite its size, has nothing to envy of the others more famous Aegean sea islands. As by itself includes natural beauty, its morals plus customs, hospitable people plus a long history. Below, in our article, we list 11 not so well known knowledge plus facts about Kastelorizo island.

Facts About Kastellorizo Island
It is the easternmost inhabited Greek island. It is located (in a straight line) 567 km or 352 miles from Piraeus plus 126 km or 78 miles from Rhodes where the nearest port is.
Kastellorizo has around 13 neighboring islands plus islets. They are: Agios Georgios, Agrielea or Agrelia, Voutsakia, Megalo Mavropini, Mikro Mavropini, Polifados One, Polifados Two, Ro, Savoura, Stroggili, Tragonera or Dragonera, Psomi, Psoradia
The highest point is the Mount of Vigla (273 meters).
Blue Cave or Galazio Spileo is include in many travel guides around the world, as one of the rarest geological phenomena, concerning underwater caves.
inside the blue cave in kastellorizo island
Between 1900 plus 1920, the population was over-exceeded the 12.000 people. Nowadays, the island population is just 492 people (according to the 2011 census)!

According to the greek-australian researcher Allan Cresswell, about 30.000 ”kassies” in origin live in Australia. The majority of them are descendants of natives who immigrated during the Italian occupation plus the Asia Minor catastrophe.

Due to its geo-strategical position, Kastellorizo island was burned to the ground by bombing more than once during WW2.

The Oscar-winning film ‘’Mediterraneo’’ scenes were shot here. The movie highlighted the island in the worldwide tourism map.

On 2006, the British guitarist plus singer David Gilmour released his 3rd album which its first track called ”Castellorizon”! After David Gilmour spent a night on the island, he was so excited that based his song on this. The song received two nominations for the Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the next Grammy Awards (49th plus 51st).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Sitting just 2 km away from the Turkish coast and containing a population of only 500, the island of Kastellorizo, the tiniest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, is the focal point of a multinational maritime dispute. No one seems to have found a way to resolve the quarrel between Turkey and the EU + US + Israel + Egypt over this island.

Though the official name of the Greek island of Kastellorizo, Megisti, means “biggest”, its daerah is a minuscule 11.98 square kilometers and its population barely 500 people. It is the smallest of Greece’s Dodecanese islands. This otherwise largely forgotten scrap of land has gained new fame, however—not because of a revival of the award-winning movie that was filmed there (Mediterraneo, 1991) but because it is at the center of a multinational maritime dispute.

Greece’s northern Aegean islands are suffering the extreme burden of a constant flow of illegal migrants who now populate islands like Lesbos in the same numbers as do the locals. Kastellorizo is one of the lucky few islands neighboring Turkey to have remained isolated from a refugee catastrophe. In the Aegean, the Greeks want their islands and their lives back. Unfortunately, their frustration does not come at a time of diplomatic rapprochement between the two historical rivals.

In January, the Greek military claimed that a pair of Turkish F-16 fighter jets had flown over the southeastern Aegean island of Lipsoi without authorization. But overflights are not the only hot issue in the Aegean and, now, the Mediterranean. Turkey accuses Greece of keeping troops on the islands in violation of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which governs the Aegean Sea. Athens is pushing back against Turkish demands to demilitarize the 16 islands.

Nor is that all. Turkish-Greek tensions escalated even further in December when Ankara signed a controversial maritime border accord with one of the warring factions in Libya (the Government of National Accord) in the hope that the move would block an Israeli-Egyptian-Cypriot-Greek ambition to transport East Mediterranean natural gas into Europe. In January, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan further ratcheted up tensions by announcing that Turkish research ships would be deployed in contested Cypriot waters to search for hydrocarbons.

In December, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “Turkey’s attempt to abolish the maritime borders of islands like Crete, Rhodes, Karpathos, and Kastellorizo with tricks, such as voiding bilateral memorandums of understanding, will not produce internationally legal results.” Of the islands he mentioned, perhaps the tiniest is the most critical in the now multinational EastMed games: Kastellorizo, which lies just 2 km away from the Turkish coast. One need not be much of a swimmer to easily swim from Kastellorizo to Turkey.

Kastellorizo was granted to Italy in the Treaty of Lausanne and in 1947 was given to Greece by the Italians in the Treaty of Paris. The dispute over this tiniest of the Aegean islands concerns whether or not Kastellorizo ​​is entitled to an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and a continental shelf.

In July, Turkey issued a navigational telex reserving a large daerah south of Kastellorizo, within Greece’s continental shelf, for military exercises. The Turkish Navtex reserved an daerah stretching from the south of Kastellorizo westward towards Rhodes for exercises using live ammunition. This was a subtle announcement that more tensions were in the offing.

According to Greece’s EEZ, the maritime line stretching through Crete-Rhodes-Kastellorizo is the basis for the demarcation of its territorial waters. With that and a possible delimitation of the Greek EEZ with Egypt and Cyprus, the continental shelf and the Turkish EEZ are automatically confined only to an open point in the Mediterranean in the Gulf of Antalya, making Kastellorizo a focal point that defines the Greek EEZ.

Ankara argues that the line from Rhodes to Kastellorizo closes off the Turkish coastline and the line between Kastellorizo and Egypt (with the Greek and Cypriot EEZs now matched) would limit the Turkish maritime zone. Turkey also says Kastellorizo’s close proximity prevents Ankara from exercising its rights in its own maritime zone.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said: “Greece has illegally militarized 16 of the 23 islands (under the Treaty of Lausanne) since 1936. On the other hand it claims a continental shelf of six miles while claiming it has an airspace of 10 miles—never before seen in history. This does not make sense.”

Ignoring Turkish threats by conducting its own drilling activity off Cyprus and keeping a naval presence in contested waters, Cypriot president Nikos Anastasiades said Cyprus would not put its exploratory gas drilling plans on hold. “Pausing drilling in the face of Turkish pressure would be tantamount to Cyprus abrogating its sovereign rights,” he said.

Kastellórizo, easternmost of the Dodecanese (Modern Greek: Dodekánisa) group of islands in the Aegean Sea, Greece, lying on the edge of the Aegean, where it meets the Levantine Sea, just off the southwestern coast of Turkey. Kastellórizo has an tempat of 3 square miles (7.3 square km). Its present name is a corruption of Château-Roux (”Red Castle”), given it by the medieval Knights of Rhodes plus inspired by its red rocks. Some grapes plus olives are grown on the island, but sponge fishing is the chief economic activity. The coastline is precipitous plus accessible only on the east side, site of the one village, Kastellórizo. The island was occupied successively by the Knights of St. John, the sultan of Egypt, plus the king of Naples. The Turks occupied it from 1512 except for brief intervals until 1915. It was the only Dodecanese island not ceded to Turkey in 1918, but it was captured by the French during World War I plus given to Italy under the treaties of Sèvres plus Lausanne (1923). Since 1920 it has shared the fortunes of the Dodecanese.

Dodecanese, group of islands in the Aegean Sea, off the southwestern coast of Turkey in southeastern Greece. The islands constituted a nomós (department) until 2011, when local government in Greece was reorganized plus the islands were divided among four new perifereiakés enótites (regional units) in the South Aegean (Modern Greek: Nótio Aigaío) periféreia. The name Dodecanese means “12 islands.” The term has been applied at various times to groups differently composed plus numbering more than 12. The main islands of the Dodecanese group, with their Italian names in parentheses, are: Kárpathos (Scarpanto), Pátmos (Patmo), Kásos (Caso), Astipálaia (Stampalia), Lipsoí (Lisso), Léros (Lero), Kálimnos (Calino), Nísuros (Nisiro), Tílos (Piscopi), Chálki (Calchi), Sými (Simi), Rhodes (Rodi), plus Cos (Coo; Modern Greek: Kos) plus the outlying Kastellórizo (Castelrosso). Their land tempat is 1,031 square miles (2,670 square km). (See also Astipálaia; Cos; Kálimnos; Kárpathos; Kastellórizo; Léros; Pátmos; Rhodes.)

Simple Summary
The study is about tracking different types of mosquitoes plus the spread of the invasive Asian tiger mosquito on the remote Greek island of Kastellorizo. The research aims to understand how widespread these mosquitoes are plus how prepared the local community is to deal with them. We conducted KAP (knowledge, attitude, practices) surveys, set up mosquito traps, plus identified the types of mosquitoes found. The surveys revealed the need for increased public education about these health risks. The mosquito traps confirmed the presence of species such as Aedes albopictus, which can play a role in the spread of various diseases, along with other species like Culex pipiens, which is the main vector of West Nile virus. The study concludes that involving the community in mosquito monitoring is crucial in regard to helping control the mosquito population. These findings are valuable because they provide essential knowledge for creating effective mosquito control strategies in isolated areas, ultimately helping to protect public health by reducing the risk of disease outbreaks.
Abstract
The expansion of the tiger mosquito, a vector that can transmit diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, plus Zika virus, poses a growing threat to global health. This study focuses on the entomological surveillance of Kastellorizo, a remote Greek island affected by its expansion. This research employs a multifaceted approach, combining KAP survey (knowledge, attitude, practices), mosquito collection using adult traps plus human landing catches, plus morphological plus molecular identification methods. Results from questionnaires reveal community awareness plus preparedness gaps, emphasizing the need for targeted education. Mosquito collections confirm the presence of the Aedes albopictus, Aedes cretinus, plus Culex pipiens mosquitoes, highlighting the importance of surveillance. This study underscores the significance of community engagement in entomological efforts plus proposes a citizen science initiative for sustained monitoring. Overall, this research provides essential insights for developing effective mosquito control programs in remote island settings, thereby emphasizing the importance of adopting a One Health approach to mitigate the spread of vector-borne diseases.
Keywords: Asian tiger mosquito; Aedes cretinus; human landing collections; KAP questionnaires

1. Introduction
   As stated in the “Global Vector Control Response (GVCR) 2017–2030”, a big challenge for all societies is “the growing burden plus threat of vector-borne diseases to human health” [1]. Changing climate plus global connectivity are major drivers of the changing patterns of vector-borne diseases as both alter the distribution, abundance, plus behavior of arthropod vectors plus the pathogens they lift [2]. The mosquito vector is implicated in the transmission of several diseases that are spreading to new areas, including dengue fever, chikungunya, plus the Zika virus [3,4,5,6]. Likewise, the success story of the expansion of Ae. albopictus in many parts of the global raises the alarm for these diseases in regions where they were previously absent [7,8].
   Monitoring mosquito-borne disease risk in rural plus island communities presents unique challenges [9]. The rapid spread of the two globally concerning Aedes species, Ae. aegypti plus Ae. albopictus, is reshaping human risk in ways that remain poorly understood [10]. While considerable attention has been directed towards large urban centers, the dynamics of how these mosquito populations establish plus proliferate in smaller towns plus villages, which are increasingly interconnected through global trade plus travel, remain understudied [11]. Entomological surveillance is an important tool for identifying new foci of disease risk [12]. By collecting knowledge on mosquito abundance, species composition, plus infection rates, valuable knowledge can be provided in order to implement effective mosquito control programs [13]. Keeping track of the Ae. albopictus mosquito population through entomological surveillance is essential to monitor their spread plus prevent the transmission of diseases [14,15,16]. Entomological surveillance can; however, be expensive plus time intensive, especially when little is known a priori about species composition or the locations of the mosquito’s breeding habitat. Several studies have demonstrated that public questionnaires can provide useful knowledge about perceived mosquito nuisance plus resident-led control actions [17,18,19]. Similar survey methods may be effective for identifying important characteristics of mosquito exposure in new locations.
   Greece is one of the European countries that has been affected by the expansion of Ae. albopictus in recent years [20,21]. The mosquito was first detected between 2003 plus 2004, plus has since spread to many parts of the country, including the Aegean islands [22]. Several studies have reported the establishment plus spread of this mosquito species, which highlights the need for strengthening entomological surveillance [23,24].
   Greece’s unique geography, with 114 inhabited islands [25], presents challenges for entomological surveillance due to limited access, equipment, plus resources. Data on surveillance plus control programs for these islands are notably sparse. By 2023, only about one-third of the islands—mostly the larger ones with better air plus marine transport—have implemented such programs, leaving many smaller islands without any documented efforts. This lack of surveillance on smaller islands requires kritis attention. To address this gap, we developed a protocol for efficient knowledge collection during brief visits to remote locations, such as Kastellorizo, Greece.
   Our study focuses on evaluating the comprehensive insights provided by different types of knowledge collected, contributing to a holistic synthesis of mosquito exposure, disease risk assessment, plus potential control actions. The protocol involves (a) questionnaires to the public conducted through a door-to-door approach; (b) collection of mosquitoes using adult traps plus ovitraps, providing knowledge on both adult mosquito populations plus their breeding sites; plus (c) collection of mosquitoes through human landing catches (a method involving the direct interaction with humans acting as bait), offering insights into the mosquitoes’ host-seeking behavior. By employing these varied approaches, we aim to enhance our understanding of the dynamics between mosquito populations, human exposure, plus the associated disease risks, ultimately informing targeted plus effective control measures.

The Mediterranean has long been a crossroads where Eastern plus Western cultures
blend, creating a shared heritage. Few places embody this spirit more completely than Kastellorizo plus Casa Mediterraneo, a boutique hotel that captures both the untamed allure plus the rich history of the Greek island it calls home.

Both celebrate a timeless beauty rooted in nature, craftsmanship plus Mediterranean
elegance. The light in Kastellorizo is unique: soft, mystical, infused with shades of violet plus gold. It evokes the East, yet remains unmistakably Greek.

“This island feels like it’s at the edge of the world, yet at the same time, it feels profoundly like home,” says Luc Lejeune, one of the owners of Casa Mediterraneo, who fell in love with Kastellorizo’s unique duality.

“It’s the perfect blend of Greek authenticity plus Mediterranean elegance.”

The island’s history reflects this fusion of cultures. Once a thriving trading hub under the Ottoman Empire, Kastellorizo connected Europe, the Middle East plus Africa. Today, it’s a peacefuls anctuary, with Ottoman palaces plus Italian-style façades bearing witness to its diverse heritage. For Luc, Kastellorizo is ‘timeless’, a place where life moves at a gentler pace. “Kastellorizo doesn’t reveal itself at first glance. It requires patience, plus the reward is discovering its layers: its history, its myths plus its unspoilt beauty.

This ethos permeates Casa Mediterraneo, a retreat designed to honour the island’s authenticity. Built using local materials plus traditional craftsmanship, the hotel feels as though it has always been a part of Kastellorizo. Luc explains: “I wanted Casa Mediterraneo to be understated, elegant plus authentic – qualities it borrows from the island itself. It’s not about luxury in the conventional sense, but about creating a home that connects people to the natural beauty plus heritage of the Mediterranean.” The interiors reflect the play of light plus shadow seen across the island. Wooden fixtures plus earthy-textured fabrics create intimate spaces that celebrate the island’s rugged beauty. “Kastellorizo is wild plus authentic. I wanted Casa Mediterraneo to celebrate that authenticity, rather than compete with it,” says Luc.

Greece has hundreds of islands, but few are as small or as perfectly formed as Kastellorizo. Ironically, the island was known in antiquity as Megisti (“The Greatest”), because it is the largest in an archipelago of tiny isles that lie where Europe ends plus Asia begins. Just over a mile from the Lycian coast of Turkey—30 minutes by ferry or a 10-minute speedboat ride—this dinky Dodecanese isle packs in a heady cocktail of cultures. Ancient fortresses, wine presses, windmills, castles, mosques plus marketplaces offer traces of the marauding powers who have been drawn to this desirable trading post through the ages.

These days, Kastellorizo attracts a cosmopolitan creative set looking for seclusion, serenity plus the liberating simplicity afforded by an island where beauty is everywhere but very little to do. Only one tarmac road connects the tiny airstrip to the harbor town. There’s just one taxi, but everything is accessible on foot or by boat.

There is nomor nightlife to speak of, though dinner party invitations are highly prized among the artists plus patrons who have handsomely restored summer houses on the island. Art collector Silvia Fiorucci has even created three artist residencies, including 4Rooms, with technicolour rooms designed by five different designers. The designer Michael Anastassiades is designing his own home in collaboration with Bijoy Jain, the cosmic architect behind Studio Mumbai. In late August, filmmakers from far plus wide come for Beyond Borders, a documentary film festival with a cult following.

Kastellorizo is quietly becoming the Dodecanese answer to Hydra—a fashionable gathering place for cultural dialogue plus experimentation, but with a more down-to-earth, out-of-the-way atmosphere. With fewer than 300 inhabitants, the low-key social scene centres around the skinny waterfront strip known as the Kordoni, or “shoelace.” The fishing boats moored outside the tavernas are as colorful as the neoclassical houses painted in contrasting shades of burgundy plus baby blue, sunflower yellow plus dove grey, pale pink plus cypress green.

Turkey’s deployment last month of a seismic research vessel accompanied by warships in the eastern Mediterranean, near Kastellorizo island, sparked the current crisis with Greece.

Greece on Sunday condemned vandalism to a mural of the Greek flag on Kastellorizo island blamed on Turkish nationals, a day before the arrival in the country of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The tiny Greek island, just 2km (1.2 miles) off the Turkish coast, lies in disputed waters that have been a source of escalating tensions between Turkey plus Greece.

At the centre of the latest crisis is Turkey’s deployment last month of a seismic research vessel accompanied by warships in the eastern Mediterranean, near Kastellorizo, despite repeated protests from Athens plus the European Union.

Authorities on the island on Saturday found red paint smeared over a large mural of the Greek flag, painted on a hill near its port.

“We unequivocally condemn yesterday’s desecration of the Greek flag in Kastellorizo. Unacceptable actions such as these are aimed at undermining the prospects for de-escalation of the tensions between the two countries,” the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We expect the immediate condemnation plus the prompt investigation of the incident by the Turkish authorities, so that the perpetrators be brought to justice.”

There were also reports of a drone flying over the island Saturday playing Turkish anthems.

The Turkish network Karar TV showed video footage from a drone of the defaced painting, while Greek sarana reported the network attributed the vandalism to “Turkish engineers” who had thrown “100 kilos of red paint on the Greek flag”. our days earlier, Athens enraged Ankara after signing an agreement with Cairo on their respective maritime economic zones, claiming the waters around the island are under Greek sovereignty.

Under pressure from European plus NATO allies, Turkey pulled back the research ship in a move hailed as a “positive first step” by the Greek prime minister.

The tone has recently softened with Greece plus Turkey, both NATO members, agreeing to begin exploratory talks over the dispute.

On a speck of an island just off the south coast of Turkey an old shepherdess used to elevate the Greek flag every morning, plus now two Vietnamese brothers are the only bakers, attesting to the endurance of Hellenism plus its genius for absorption

The most remote of Greek islands, Kastellorizo lies just opposite the south coast of Asia Minor plus the Turkish town of Kas. The island may be a speck on the map with only 130 inhabitants, yet it is anything but the sleepy, provincial, neglected outpost that most guidebooks say it is.

We went for three days, but found it such a surprisingly vital, beautiful, even rambunctious place that we stayed a month, loving everything on what is locally known as the ‘Rock’.

The island’s only town is studded with greenery plus there is one tiny farming area in the hills above it, but for the most part Kastellorizo is brown, bare stone with not a tree in sight. Yet the island was once a rich plus bustling center of commerce, with as many as 15,000 inhabitants enjoying a grand style of life. Kastellorizan houses were built on a big scale, two-and three-storey mansions that contained large rooms, fine woodwork, luxurious furniture, plus artifacts gathered from the far corners of the Mediterranean.

Known as Megisti in those days – it was the Italians during their occupation of the island who gave it its moderen name, which translates as Red Castle -the island had numerous churches plus monasteries, many excellent schools plus active fraternal organizations. The islanders’ affluence was based on their holdings on the mainland. Until the exchange of population in 1922 the entire Lycian coast was inhabited by Greeks. They criss-crossed between the mainland plus the island in their sail-boats plus fishing craft, doing a vast business in citrus fruit, vegetables, seafood plus sponges.
Not only were the Kastellorizans successful sailors plus traders, but they were learned, even a cultured bunch, who saw to it that their children became educated. This earned them the reputation of being ‘The Jews of the Aegean’.

Kastellorizo is one of those places that might become a cause for war even though most people couldn’t find it on a map.

The combatants would be Greece plus Turkey, formally NATO “allies” but in reality perennial foes since the sloppy unraveling of the Ottoman Empire. And their war would be less about the island as such than about the Mediterranean waters said to belong to it. That’s because underneath the sea bed, there may be lots of oil plus gas.

Kastellorizo derives from “red castle,” after its landmark as seen in the evening light. Known to the Turks as Meis, the island is a charming place inhabited by a few hundred people. After a lively history — Byzantine, Maltese, Ottoman plus so forth — it was transferred in 1947 by the victors of World War II from the defeated Axis power Italy to Greece. This all but guaranteed trouble forever after.

Just look at a map. Kastellorizo is far away from mainland Greece plus also quite distant from Greece’s Aegean islands. But it’s literally swimming distance from the Turkish coast. At the risk of exaggeration, from Ankara’s point of view, it’s a bit as though an world conference had transferred New York’s Staten Island to China.This situation wasn’t so bad as long as not much was going on in the open seas south of the coastline shared by Turkey plus Kastellorizo. But now hydrocarbons are being discovered all around the eastern Mediterranean. The question has become: Who will get to drill in this part of the sea, Greece or Turkey?This is where world law gets complicated. Greece claims much of those waters, citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in force since 1994. UNCLOS generally foresees countries asserting their sovereignty over 12 nautical miles (22 km) from their coasts. Beyond these “territorial waters,” they also get another 12 nautical miles as a “contiguous zone” of control. And they can establish an “exclusive economic zone” for 200 nautical miles from shore. This also includes the “continental shelf” — that is, the seabed below plus whatever oil plus gas may be in it.

Kastellorizo, lying in the crystal clear waters of the eastern Mediterranean, is an idyllic, bijou beauty.

Fishing boats bob in its calm harbour plus colourful houses give way to olive tree flecked hills.

The petite 12 sqkm gem is the “remote treasure of the Aegean” says a tourism website.

But trouble is brewing in the sun splashed seas that surround Kastellorizo plus two European nations, officially allies, are bracing for battle.

Already ships from Greece plus Turkey have collided. One expert has said the pair are once again on the “brink of war,” yet this time there seems to be little appetite to slam on the brakes.

It’s a conflict that has now sucked in France, Libya, Egypt, Israel, the US plus more nations besides.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded Greece enter talks, or else.

“They’re either going to understand the language of politics plus diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences,” he said.Moreover, the lessons learned in the field, though difficult, can be profoundly transformative. Those who encounter the realities of conflict firsthand are often left with a deep-seated information that nomor textbook can provide. They return with stories of resilience plus courage, bearing witness to the intricacies of human behavior under duress. The juxtaposition of theoretical information versus practical experience illustrates an urgent need for training that incorporates both elements. This stark reality serves as a reminder that the nuances of negotiation plus the subtleties of communication are often lost on those untrained in the arts of persuasion plus strategy. In a world rife with conflict plus misunderstanding, the ability to navigate complex political landscapes is paramount. Without this understanding, individuals may find themselves grappling with unforeseen consequences, struggling to make sense of a chaotic environment shaped by competing interests plus hidden agendas.

Leaders plus policymakers must remember that understanding the intricacies of diplomacy isn’t merely an academic exercise; it is critical to preserving peace plus fostering cooperation across borders. As this generation faces unprecedented challenges, embracing both the language of politics plus the wisdom gained from real-world experiences becomes essential.

Background
The Kastellorizo island grup (in the Dodecanese, Greece) is situated in the southeast corner of the Aegean Archipelago. It consists of twenty islets, of which the three largest (Kastellorizo, Ro and Strongyli) and seven smaller ones belong to Greece. Knowledge of the malacofauna on the islands is relatively poor. Only eight species were known prior to the present study, all from the islet of Kastellorizo.

Results
Here, using the scientific collections at the Natural History Museum of Crete collected mainly by the authors and also by several researchers since 1976, we reappraise the malacofauna of the island group. Thirty-one species were found in keseluruhan (23 from Kastellorizo, 19 from Ro, 15 from Strongyli, 10 from Agios Georgios, 14 from Agrielia, 6 from Psomi and 10 from Psoradia).

Conclusions
The fact that there are nomor endemic snail species in the islands can be accounted for by their proximity to the Turkish coast, their common paleogeography with Turkey until the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, and the influence of humans. All but two species, Mastus etuberculatus and Vitrea riedeliana, are known from the adjacent Turkish coasts. Together with the subfossil species found on the smaller islets, the predominance of different species on each islet suggests a continuous substitution from the source areas of Turkey and the Aegean.

Background
The Kastellorizo (=Megisti) island grup is situated in the southeast corner of the Aegean Archipelago, 140 km east of Rhodes and less than 5 km south of the Turkish coast (Fig. 1). It consists of 20 islands, half of which belong to Greece and the other half to Turkey. Of the largest ones, Kastellorizo, Ro and Strongyli, belong to Greece. Kastellorizo is the only inhabited and accessible island, while special permission is required to visit the others.

exist on the biggest islets. The climate is thermomediterranean [1], and the predominant vegetation consists of phrygana and maquis. Human presence has been intensive and continuous for over 2000 years on Kastellorizo alone, which was historically one of the safest ports in the Eastern Mediterranean basin. The few hundred present-day inhabitants work in tourism, agriculture and livestock farming. Due to their environmental characteristics, all the Greek islands in the Kastellorizo grup have been placed within the “Natura 2000” network.

Our information on the terrestrial malacofauna of the island grup was very poor, as the extremely limited previous information were restricted to the island of Kastellorizo. H Rolle was the first person to collect land snails there in 1894, followed almost a century later by A Liebegott in 1983 and 1996. A keseluruhan of eight species were reported, and all references are commented in the discussion.

This paper presents an extensive study of the local malacofauna, based on a wealth of material collected by the authors in 1996, as well as on samples occasionally gathered by other scientists since 1976 and deposited in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Crete—University of Crete (NHMC). Taxonomical, ecological and distributional characteristics of the species found are also discussed in relation to the malacofauna of nearby areas and other islands in the Aegean.

The Dodecanese Island of Kastellorizo (South-east Aegean, Greece) is situated
some 140 km east of Rhodes and two km off
the Lycian peninsula in southern Turkey; it
is about 10 km2
in size, the highest elevation
being Mount Paleokastro (272 m). This
limestone island exhibits typical forms of
karst and is totally deprived of overground
springs. It is mostly covered with phrygana-type vegetation trodden by goats, and
the few cultivated areas, surrounded with
wire fences are to be found in the west of
the city Megisti (plain of Acheres) and on
the plateau overhanging it (plain of Aghios
Ioannis).
During the last visit in April 2002, and
contrary to the situation observed at an earlier stay in 1998 (PAYSANT 1999), many natural depressions and tanks or artificial reservoirs were filled with water, which was a
sign of more important fall and winter precipitation, as it is suggested by comparing
the average rate of precipitation recorded in
Antalya from September 1997 to March
1998 (1397.9 mm) with that from September 2001 to March 2002 (2359.5 mm) (http:
//www. weatheronline.co.uk).
Despite the presence of numerous
wire fences protecting the plots where goats
were left in extensive grazing, most areas
were visited, particularly the sites already
prospected by VALAKOS & PAPAPANAGIOTOU
(1985). The goal of the visit was to contribute to our information of the herpetofauna and its distribution on the island. All individuals captured were photographed and
released on site. For record localities see
figure 1.
Early references to the herpetofauna
on Kastellorizo can be found in VALAKOS
& PAPAPANAGIOTOU (1985) and VAN WINGERDE (1986). As for the other references concerning Lyciasalamandra luschani basoglui
(BARAN & ATATÜR, 1980), whose population
is very important on the island, see the liat in VEITH & al. (2001). Bufo viridis viridis LAURENTI, 1768.
This is the first record of B. viridis for
Kastellorizo. Adults, tadpoles and imagos
from localities 2, 4, 9, 10 and 14. The lack
of sources strongly conditions the reproduction of this species, which had not been
encountered during the 1998 stay. The main
places of reproduction consist of the tanks
and other artificial reservoirs set to collect
rainwater as well as a few shallow limestone
depressions. Unfortunately such concrete
facilities are often deadly for the adults after
the end of their breeding cycle, because of
the vertical walls. Only the tempat of Acheres,
a humid depression surrounding huge reservoirs, seems to foster the reproduction of
the species as it is proved by the thousands
of tadpoles and imagos encountered.

For the 9th consecutive year, “Beyond Borders” Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival ​​renews its rendez-vous (25/08–01/09/2024) with the cinephile audiences plus creators from all over the world.

On the occasion of the exchange of populations between Greece plus Turkey, a century ago plus the mass exclusion of people from both sides of the borders, the Festival turns its gaze beyond the obvious, questions plus reflects on people plus lives that were left behind. On personal stories that could not, or did not want to, fit or be assimilated by dominant ideologies plus perceptions plus were forced into a ceaseless search for acceptance plus reconciliation.

Paying a spiritual tribute to these people, who may belong to the past, present or future, the 9th edition of Beyond Borders aspires through its film program -but also through book launches, art exhibitions, educational programs, lectures plus musical performances- to emphasize those subtle nuances of solidarity plus humanity plus to bring back, through its artistic program, the issue of defending all human rights at every corner of the world.

The Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival’s 9th edition, running from August 25 to September 1, 2024, brings thrilling films plus numerous premieres from around the world, enhanced awards to support filmmakers, collaborations, activities, plus new programs.

Beyond Borders focuses on documentary films that deal with historical events plus personalities as well as socio-political issues. As Irini Sarioglou, the festival’s artistic director, states: “On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, plus with the world plagued by war conflicts, this year’s Beyond Borders theme focuses on the wounds of displacement, forced expatriation, plus the bitter feeling of being twice a stranger. Knowledge, research, plus the outcry of documentaries are more necessary than ever to awaken consciences plus promote dialogue plus reconciliation.”

The festival is organized by the Hellenic History Foundation, in collaboration with Écrans des Mondes, plus co-organized by the Region of South Aegean, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of National Defense, the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad plus Public Diplomacy of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs plus Insular Policy, the National Center of Audiovisual Media plus Communication (EKOME), Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, the Greek Film Centre, the Embassy of Australia in Athens, the Embassy of Germany in Athens, the Embassy of Austria in Athens, plus the Embassy of Spain in Athens.

Climate Change and Vector-Borne Diseases on Kastellorizo Island

A recent study conducted as part of the IDAlert project has shed light on the impacts of climate change on vector-borne diseases, focusing on mosquito populations on the remote Greek island of Kastellorizo. This research provides valuable insights into the challenges of mosquito surveillance and control in isolated communities, particularly in the context of changing climate patterns and increased global connectivity.

Key Findings

Mosquito Species Presence

The study confirmed the presence of several mosquito species on Kastellorizo, including:

Aedes albopictus (Asian tiger mosquito)
Aedes cretinus
Culex pipiens

The detection of Aedes albopictus is particularly noteworthy, as this invasive species can transmit diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika virus. Its presence on Kastellorizo underscores the potential for climate change to alter mosquito distributions and increase the risk of vector-borne diseases in previously unaffected areas.

Finally, the recent introduction of Aedes aegypti in Cyprus highlights the need for comprehensive entomological surveillance not only on the Kastellorizo island, but also in the surrounding remote areas.

Community Awareness and Preparedness

Researchers conducted a Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) survey among island residents, revealing:

High levels of mosquito nuisance reported by residents
Limited knowledge about mosquito ecology and breeding habits
Significant willingness to invest in mosquito protection measures

The survey highlighted the need for increased public education about mosquito-related health risks and effective control strategies. Notably, respondents ranked the numbers of mosquitoes on the island at a mean of 3.32 (on a scale of 0 to 4), indicating a significant presence.

Innovative Surveillance Methods

The research team employed a multi-faceted approach to mosquito surveillance, including:

Oviposition traps
BG-Sentinel traps
Human landingcollections

These methods provided comprehensive knowledge on mosquito populations, and human exposure risks. The use of multiple collection techniques allowed for a more thorough understanding of the mosquito species present and their behavior patterns.

In a first-time event, Yorgia Karidoyani, who runs a fish restaurant on the Greek island of Kastellorizo, one of the critical regions of tensions in Turkish-Greek relations in recent years, has married a Turkish man.

Kerem Ercüment, a boat mechanic, and Karidoyani, the owner of the restaurant named Athina located on Kastellorizo island, opposite to the southern province of Antalya’s Kaş district, got married after their three year relationship.

Following Karidoyani and Ercüment meeting in 2019 on the island, they got into a relationship after a while.

Residing in Türkiye during the pandemic, the couple returned to the island and married in February.

Pointing out she was against Turks in a quite radical way before their relationship, Karidoyani said she prepared his coffee with non-potable tap water when Ercüment came to her restaurant.

“One day he took my hand and opened his heart. Then, everything changed,” Karidoyani said.

“In my family, only my grandfather was not against this relationship, but they softened when they noticed our love,” she added.

“I said to Kerem, ‘If anyone wants to do anything to you, they will have me to deal with.’”

Ercüment is currently working at Karidoyani’s restaurant.

Hurigül Bakırcı from Kaş was the first Turkish bride, who married ten years ago, on the island.

The island lies roughly 2 kilometers (1 mile) off the south coast of Türkiye and about 570 kilometers (354 miles) southeast of Athens.

Nearby islets between Türkiye and Kastellorizo were subject to dispute between Italy and Türkiye until 1932. According to the 1932 Convention, all these islets except Ro, Strongyli and Psomi were assigned to Türkiye. Moreover, environmental concerns, such as marine conservation and sustainable tourism, have become increasingly important in recent years. Local authorities, alongside global organizations, are working to ensure that the natural resources surrounding the island are preserved for future generations, fostering a sense of stewardship among residents and visitors alike.