36°58′26″N 27°27′45″E / 36.97389°N 27.46250°E
Kara Ada, (literally "Black island" in Turkish), known as Arkos in Greek (Αρκός [1]), is a small Turkish island at the entrance of the harbor of Bodrum in the Aegean Sea. [1] It is a popular tourist destination, particularly for yachting.
The ancient Greeks called it Arkonnesos ( Ancient Greek: Ἀρκόνησος). [2] During the Siege of Halicarnassus by Alexander the Great, some of the Persian troops withdrew to the island after they first set fire to the Halicarnassus. [3]
In the Middle Ages the island, which the Greeks know under the name of Arkos, [1] was taken over by the Knights of St. John Hospitaller, who also occupied Bodrum. [4] It was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. In 1919 it was occupied by the Italians together with Bodrum. [4] The 1932 Convention between Italy and Turkey assigned it to Turkey. [5]