Dodecanese 18th century. The transfer of the name to the present-day Dodecanese has its roots in the Ottoman period. Following the Ottoman conquest in 1522, the two larger islands, Rhodes and Kos, came under direct Ottoman rule, while the others, of which the twelve main islands were usually named, enjoyed extensive privileges pertaining to taxation and self-government. Concerted attempts to abolish these privileges were made after 1869, as the Ottoman Empire attempted to modernize and centralize its administrative structure, and the last vestiges of the old privileges were finally abolished after the Young Turks took power in 1908. It was at
Syrna (island) 7 December 1946, the ship "Athina Rafiah" carrying Jewish immigrants to Palestine was wrecked in the Agiou Soassin Bay, on the south coast of Syrna, and more than seven hundred survivors came ashore on the island. The British minesweeper HMS "Providence", working with HMS "Chevron", HHMS "Themistocles" and HHMS "Aegean" managed to rescue the survivors. Syrna (island) Syrna () or Sirna is a small island about 4 km in area to the south-east of Astypalaia in the Dodecanese group of Greek islands near the south-west coast of Turkey. It is mostly covered with juniper and garrigue scrub. The few inhabitants