Dodecanese

Turkish authorities Friday issued navigational telexes reserving an area in the central Aegean between the islands of Psarra, Skyros and Evia for naval exercises planned for a large part of next month.

Ahead of that, the Turkish Navy is to start a major exercise code-named Denizkurdu (Seawolf), which Greek authorities will also be monitoring closely.

Kasos, is an island of the Dodecanese near Karpathos. Its history goes back to the time of Homer, as according to him it participated in the Trojan War with ships.

The island, as the rest of the Dodecanese, saw many conquerors (Venetians, Ottomans, Italians).

The 11th Medieval Festival of Rhodes takes place inside the UNESCO-listed Medieval Town on the southeastern Aegean island from May 26 to 28. Organizers invite locals and visitors to join in activities inspired by the era when the Knights of Saint John ruled over the island.

A 3.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded between the island of Kasos and the west of Crete. The tremor was recorded a little after 6pm 21km southeast of Kasos and its depth was determined at 10km. The earthquake was felt in the wider area.

The Greek community in Australia is one of the most well-established and integrated in the land down under. It has managed to distinguish itself in all fields of the Australian society with one of the most prosperous and successful ones located in Perth in the state of Western Australia.

Activists reported that two transsexual refugees, who are living at a UNHCR camp on the island of Leros, were attacked by locals on Friday.

Greece's Transgender Association claimed that there is a group of about 20 people on the island that are carrying out racist attacks.

It called on authorities to act to stop these raids, which are carried out by hooded men on motorcycles.

The small island of Kasos in the southeastern Aegean was jolted by a quake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale on Wednesday.

According to the Athens Geodynamic Institute, the quake occurred at 4.53 p.m. and its epicenter was 10 kilometers below sea level, 5 kilometers south of the island.

At an informal meeting with his European Union counterparts in Malta on Thursday, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos brought to their attention Turkey's repeated questioning of Greece's territorial rights and incursions into the country's air space and waters.

The Turkish European Affairs Minister, Omer Celik made a provocative statement claiming the island of Agathonisi was Turkish territory in an interview on Turkish television, Wednesday. His statement came as a response to the recent visit during Easter to the island by Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, who Mr. Celik attacked personally saying his trip there was not a “serious move”.

British newspaper Guardian’s writer Hannah Jane Parkinson writes a piece entitled “Island hopping in Greece’s Dodecanese”, where she explains why she is obsessed with the small island of Leros. From the Guardian: