Visiting new lands always brings excitement and a certain kind of solemnity. The row of cars, winding slowly towards the island’s interior, somehow highlights this important moment. I too am on Gökçeada (familiarly called “the Gökçe” by my friends); I too will spend a week here and then at least two months recounting tales about it.
The first impressions of the island aren’t too promising. Bare hills succeed one another and, at a safe distance from the road, goats and sheep graze freely. The fact that the cattle have nowhere to escape turns out to be a practical side of living on the island.

Wrapped up in confused thoughts, you hardly notice reaching a small settlement with an even smaller roundabout in its centre. You go around it once and then stop near the ever-present in all Turkish settlements Atatürk bust.

Gökçeada, the only town on the island bearing the same name, is occupied by almost all (7,000) of the island’s 9,000 inhabitants. If you’re lucky, you’ll immediately witness one of the many local miracles – in that moment of confused bliss, several military planes will fly over your head. The planes, along with military personnel of unknown numbers and composition, also inhabit the island. The signs of military presence are practically everywhere – from the gigantic slogans hanging on the nearby hills to the fenced-off military grounds housing tanks under their sheds.

This is one of the reasons for the low number of tourists on the island. Until recently, the island – under the sole possession of the military, was inaccessible to tourists. And now that it’s become relatively popular, it has retained a certain exotic air that makes it attractive.

There are several accommodation possibilities. In ascending order of quantity and descending order of price, they are as follows: the only all-inclusive hotel, with a view of the nearby Samothrace Island will accommodate you for 100 euro per night, but it is unlikely to leave you with happy memories. The three hotels in the preserved Greek villages are much more comfortable, pleasant and well-priced. Beside the hotels in the town, the surrounding villages offer the most numerous accommodation possibilities – in the family-run pensions, you would share a spacious courtyard with other guests while enjoying your own room and bathroom for no more than 20 euro per person per night.

After settling in, we set about to discover the island. Even though it is a small piece of land, its sites are enough to last a few summers.

The Island’s Three Inhabitants



In actuality, the “three” get along wonderfully on Gökçeada. The “three” in question are the Turks, the Greeks and the Bulgarians who have co-habited the island peacefully for the last decade, to the joy and endearment of Balkan tourists. In fact the island was historically Greek, known under the name Imbros for a long time. After the First World War and the embarrassing Greco-Turkish War, in 1923 in Lausanne was signed a treaty that guaranteed the independence of Turkey, while at the same time protecting the Greek minority in Turkey and the Musilm minority in Greece. All but the most attached of Imbros’s native inhabitants, the Greeks, left the island when it was no longer Greek territory. Nowadays, there are around 300 Greeks living on the island.

The Bulgarians came after the big migration to Turkey, in search of hap\
piness and livelihood. Remains of their literary culture can be seen in the decent menu translations in the central square restaurant and the ability of some waiters to take orders in Bulgarian.

Zeytinli Köyü’s Wonders

There are a couple of wonders in this picturesque Greek village with its stone houses, oleander shrubs, richly-scented fig trees and extraordinary view, not counting the large air-conditioner installed at the local church. Its name (zeytin means olive in Turkish) suggests the older of the two – the olive oil here is the best on the island and surely the tastiest I have ever had.

The second is the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. He was born in 1940 and grew up in the village as Dimitrios Arhondonis, but in 1991 he became the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians around the world. It turns out that His Holiness is a Turkish citizen and he returns home to Zeytinli regularly, where he is usually served his favourite rice-pudding with almonds.

The Gigantic Black Mussels

The main drag on the island, lined with cafés and restaurants, is called Kaleköy. It is located on the coast across from the island of Samothrace. On the hill rising over the coast is the best restaurant on the island. On its terrace – built over the rocks with a view of the mountains and the sea where the sun is setting, you have the chance to eat one of the most scrumptious dinners in your life.



A few hundred metres into the sea, Turkish biologists and ecologists are trying to revitalise one of the rarest gigantic black mussel populations in the world. Not to serve them in the restaurant, though, but because they are a protected, endangered species. The mussels look like those served on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast and in French and Belgian seafood restaurants, the only difference being that they are between one and 1.5 metres in length. Diving in this area is strictly prohibited. According to Turkish scientists, the mussels’ population is endangered because of the big difference in the age of the male and female specimens.

The Oleander River…

The oleander shrubs here are pink and beautiful. Almost along the entire picturesque road from the town to the southern coast of the island (where the flamingos and surfers are) “flows” a river of pink oleander. There is nothing much more I could say about it than could substitute seeing it in person.

Pink Flamingos…

I couldn’t believe the tales of the pink flamingos until I saw them with my own eyes. It turns out that they are regular migratory birds who come from the South and spend the summer in the large salt-water lake located near the island’s best beach, Aydıncık. From afar, they look like a large pink sphere in the blue water and it is difficult to get near them, because they quickly retreat to the lake’s other side.

ydıncık is the award for going the ten kilometres from the town. The endless beach – almost deserted, especially compared to the crowds at Bulgaria’s Black Sea beaches, is a heaven for windsurfers from this part of the world.

More on windsurfing…

Don’t despair if you didn’t bring your windsurf along. There is a surf school on the beach, owned by Bulgarians, where you could rent all the equipment you need and even get a teacher. Near the beach, there’s an improvised campsite with tents and trailers, many of them occupied by Bulgarians.

In the nearby bay, there is a kite-surfing school, also run by Bulgarians. They can teach you the basics of this sport for three days and you are unlikely to be able to use a lack of wind as an excuse. Do be careful with the wind, though. When it stops blowing, your main occupation will be to sit around and wait for it to reappear and this is when you’ll be most susceptible to philosophical thoughts and squabbles.

This might be why Bulgarian director Zornitsa Sofia filmed her 2007 film Modus Vivendi[ital] on Gökçeada. The film tells the story about several friends from different Balkan countries who go to a Turkish island to windsurf. Suddenly, the wind stops and they begin to argue about their national identity, gradually building walls between one another.

The Black People…



Even if you don’t windsurf, you will not be bored. You could collect some colourful sea stones to bring home, where they can be used for decoration. You could also take a walk to the salt-water lake, known for its healing black mud. Once you reach the lake, dig up a hole in the sand and spread the black mud all over your body. The groups of black people walking around, waiting for the mud to dry off is a common site around here.

The food…

Whether you eat in or out, food is tasty – after all, you’re on an island and a Turkish one at that. The former means that most of the food was either produced or caught here and the latter refers to the Turks’ wide culinary fame.



There are a few restaurants in the town and they all work on a similar basis – you have the feeling that you’re in someone’s house as a guest rather than a customer in an establishment. The salads and the mezes, or appetizers, are pre-made and laid out, making for an easy choice. The fish and meat are always fresh and cooked on the spot. The olive oil is cold-pressed and locally-produced; the ayran – the cold yogurt drink, has the power to make you cry; the cooking is like your grandma’s. They may not serve alcohol everywhere but you’ll be so consumed by the food that you may not even notice.

If you’re staying in a pension, you’ll surely have a big, fully-equipped kitchen at your disposal where – infected by the culinary enthusiasm of the Turkish housewives, you’ll surely whip up several four-course meals.

And most importantly – I don’t know how they make their bread, but I’ve never tasted other bread like it, and probably never will.

The water…

Turkey’s largest village, Dereköy, is located on Gökçeada. Five old villages are scattered around the island’s hills, while four new ones have been built in the lowlands. I wondered why they used to build them high up, whereas now they build them in the low parts and then realized it was because of water. The old villages were built in the vicinity of the biggest springs. The new ones depend on the dam and the island’s large water supplies. Gökçeada is among the top ten in its water reserves. After I add that over there the sun sets the latest in all of Turkey, I realize that I’ve used words ending in ‘–est’ over 25 times, so I will stop here.

Practicalities Gökçeada is accessible from two ports on Turkey’s mainland coast, by daily ferries. The Kabatepe Port, in the Gallipoli Peninsula, is better suited for travellers coming from Istanbul and the Balkans. Driving time to Kabatepe from Istanbul takes about five hours and from there, the distance to the island is just over 20 kilometres. Reaching Gökçeada from Çanakkale is recommended for travellers coming from Anatolia. Çanakkale is located at 650 kilometres from Ankara, 330 kilometres from İzmir and 280 kilometres from Bursa. The distance from the port to the island is just over 50 kilometres.

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