Avşa

Avşa Island (Turkish: Avşa Adası) or Türkeli is a Turkish island in the southern Sea of Marmara with an area of about 14 square miles (36 km²). It was the classical and Byzantine Aphousia (Greek: Αφουσία) or Ophiousa (Οφιούσα) and was a place of exile during the Byzantine period.

The island belongs to the Marmara District of Balıkesir Province in northwestern Turkey. It is a popular domestic tourist destination, especially for tourists from Istanbul. The local population is around 2,000 according to the last census, but during the summer season the number of visitors increases as far as forty to fifty thousand.

Transportation

The island is within reach from Istanbul by ship and ferry. It is also accessible from Erdek and Tekirdağ by motorboat.

Location

The exact location of Avşa island is shown in the following map in red color. The larger island north of Avşa is the island of Marmara and the island to the east is Paşalimanı.

See also

Avia, Messenia

Avia (Greek: Αβία) is a village and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality West Mani, of which it is a municipal unit. In 2001 its population was 236 for the village, 605 for the community and 3,089 for the municipal unit. The seat of the municipality was in Kampos. Avia is a popular tourist destination. It also has a large olive production. Avia is situated on the east coast of the Messenian Gulf, southeast of Kalamata, southwest of Sparta and northwest of Kardamyli.

History

Ancient Abia

In the location where Paliochora is located today, the Homeric city of Ire (Ιρή) is supposed to have stood (Iliad I 150 and I 292). The traveller Pausanias mentioned in his Description of Greece that the city Ire was renamed Abia by Cresphontes, king of Messene, after Abia, the nursemaid of his great-grandfather Hyllus, son of Heracles. Abia was disputed between the Messenians and the Spartans. Abia became a member of the Achaean League in 181 BC. In the city was a temple of Asclepius. After Pausanias' time, Abia was not mentioned in sources. It was probably destroyed during barbarian invasions.

Hawker Siddeley Harrier

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, developed in the 1960s, was the first of the Harrier Jump Jet series of aircraft. It was the first operational close-support and reconnaissance fighter aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities and the only truly successful V/STOL design of the many that arose in that era. The Harrier was developed directly from the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel prototype aircraft, following the cancellation of a more advanced supersonic aircraft, the Hawker Siddeley P.1154. The British Royal Air Force (RAF) ordered the Harrier GR.1 and GR.3 variants in the late 1960s. It was exported to the United States as the AV-8A, for use by the US Marine Corps (USMC), in the 1970s.

During the Harrier's service the RAF positioned the bulk of the aircraft in West Germany to defend against a potential invasion of Western Europe by the Warsaw Pact forces; the unique abilities of the Harrier allowed the RAF to disperse their forces away from vulnerable airbases. The USMC used their Harriers primarily for close air support, operating from amphibious assault ships, and, if needed, forward operating bases. Harrier squadrons saw several deployments overseas. The Harrier's ability to operate with minimal ground facilities and very short runways allowed it to be used at locations unavailable to other fixed-wing aircraft. The Harrier received criticism for having a high accident rate and for a time-consuming maintenance process.