Tuzla Island

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Tuzla Spit
Native name: острів Тузла

Landsat satellite photo of the Strait of Kerch with the Kosa Tuzla Island in the middle.
Geography
Location Strait of Kerch
Coordinates 45°16′N 36°33′E / 45.267°N 36.550°E / 45.267; 36.550
Area 3.5 km2 (1.4 sq mi)
Country
Ukraine
Demographics
Population unknown (as of 2010)

Tuzla Spit (Ukrainian: Тузла Коса; Russian: Тузла Коса; Crimean Tatar: Tuzla) is a sandy islet in a form of a spit located in the middle of the Strait of Kerch between the Kerch Peninsula in the west and the Taman Peninsula in the east. Administratively, it is part of Kerch city in the eastern Crimea.

Tuzla island (center). View from Mount Mithridat (Kerch, Ukraine).
Kerch Strait in 2011 depicting an extensive landform that appears to stretch from the Russian coast towards the island
Fishing settlement at Tuzla in 2007
Tuzla island reinforcement structures (2007)
Inner lakes at Tuzla (2007)

Conflict

There was a territorial dispute over the ownership of the island between Ukraine and Russia in October 2003. The Russian authorities were claiming it as a spit that is part of the continental Russia and only the continental Crimea peninsula was transferred to Ukraine in 1954.[citation needed]

The Russian side started to build a dam from the Taman peninsula towards the island to revive the eroded peninsula without any preliminary consultations with the Ukrainian government authorities. After the construction of the dam was suspended at the exact point of Russian-Ukrainian border the distance between the dam and the island now equals some 102 m (335 ft). The construction of the dam led to the increase the intensity of stream in the strait and deterioration of the island. To prevent the deterioration the government of Ukraine funded ground works to deepen the bed of the strait. The reason for those ground works was to stop the Russian ships paying a toll to Ukraine for crossing the strait of Kerch which is considered as territorial waters of Ukraine. Ukraine refuses to recognize the strait as inner waters of both countries.

On October 21, 2003 the Border Service of Ukraine arrested the Russian tugboat "Truzhenik" that crossed the State Border of Ukraine and conducted photo and video surveillance of the island. After the incident a respective protocol was created and the ship was handed over to the Russian border authorities. On October 23, 2003 the Supreme Council of Ukraine issued a resolution "To eliminate a threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine that appeared as a result of dam construction by the Russian Federation in the strait of Kerch". A provisional special parliamentary commission was created to investigate the case more thoroughly.

On October 30–31, 2003 talks started between Ukraine and Russia which led to suspension of the construction of dam that physically reached the line of Russian-Ukrainian border. Due to the conflict, on December 2, 2003 a border patrol station of Ukraine was installed on the island. On December 5, 2003 the Cabinet of Ukraine issued the order #735p in regards to urgent measures to safe the island. On July 4, 2004 the Cabinet of Ukraine released the order #429p that foresaw the construction of shore reinforcement structures and population transfer from the flooding territories.

History

It was formed when the spit that continued the Taman peninsula suffered from a massive erosion during a major storm in 1925. Just before the Soviet Union entered World War II on January 7, 1941, it was transferred to the Crimean Oblast which in its turn on February 19, 1954, became a part of the Ukrainian SSR.

Infrastructure

Officially the island does not have a permanent settlement, however there is a border station of the Border Service of Ukraine, a small fishing settlement, some private garden lots, two vacation resorts "Middle spit" and "Two Seas". The island electricity is supplied by two diesel power stations. There also is a pier and a helicopter pad. A second pier is located near the fishing settlement which is in critical conditions and is not in use. Two concrete surface roads run along the island. From May through October at the resort "Two Seas" a store is operational. After the conflict in 2003 the Supreme Council of Crimea ordered to officially establish a new settlement. However on September 6, 2006, the Kerch city administration refused to create such a settlement which conflicts with administrative-territorial composition of the city.

See also

External links

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