by Brad Carlson
On Cyprus itself, five C-130s landed at Pinarbashi air base, four landed at Ercan airport, and three more landed at Gecitkale air base. The C-130s carried a few smaller armored personnel carriers along with up to 100 combat troops. The first planes landed at each base within minutes of the jammers coming on line. By 2040 hours, the three main air bases in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus had been seized. By 2100, Raiders from the Greek Beta Raider Battalion had overwhelmed the Turkish garrison at Morphou, the Delta Raider Battalion had completely shattered the Turk 14th Armored Brigade at Degirmenlik, and the Epsilon Battalion had thoroughly crushed the skeleton force of the Turk 28th Mechanized Infantry Division at Pasakoy. All that remained as a cohesive force of the Turkish army on Cyprus was the truncated Headquarters element of the 28th Mechanized Infantry Division on the coast at Kyrenia.
Batman Air Force Base, Turkey
9:00 PM Local Time
“Colonel, any idea what the urgency is for an evening flight like this?” a section leader for the Leopards fighter squadron asked his commanding officer in the pilot’s briefing room.
“Captain, we’re putting up the full squadron tonight but I really can’t answer the ‘why’ portion or your question other than that we are expecting some potential air-to-air activity tonight, hence the full squadron will be flying. I’m told we will have an airborne radar with us as well. If not, we’ll need two aircraft to keep their radars active for the evening.”
“Do we know what we’re up against? This area is usually patrolled by the Americans and the Jordanians. If it’s Jordan, it’ll obviously be Vipers, but what about the Americans?” another pilot asked.
“Lieutenant, I’m expecting either F-15s or F-22s,” the colonel replied, to some surprised pilots. “That’s right, guys, I would expect we’ll be up against the varsity tonight.”
“Ah, Colonel, what are you not telling us? I thought the Americans transferred all of their Eagles and Raptors out of the region since the Russians no longer pose a threat. Why would the Americans keep their most advanced air-to-air fighter over here?”
“I have no idea, Captain. Just be prepared for anything. However, I fully believe that if we are up against either of these, we will seriously outnumber them. Plus, they won’t be expecting us, either. Our presence should be a complete surprise for them.”
Tel Aviv, Israel
9:00 PM Local Time
“Stonewall, are you still at Incirlik?” Lion asked Jackson over his satellite phone.
“No, we left several hours ago. We’re back in Tel Aviv. Why? What’s up?”
“You’re not going to believe this but the Greeks just overran the Turks here on Cyprus. The entire island is now under Greek control.”
“What?!?” Jackson yelled out, clearly getting Dani’s attention across the apartment. “Why would they do that?”
“No idea, other than the obvious—the Greeks and Turks hate each other. I don’t have to remind you about the ’74 Turkish invasion—that really antagonized the Greeks. Maybe they felt the time was right with the Turkish army on Cyprus depleted with the war on ISIS—and, of course, the recent terror bombings in Turkey.”
“Wait, you’re not thinking the Greeks did that are you?”
“You have to admit, it’s mighty coincidental—the high command of the Turkish air force is taken out earlier in the week. Now, virtually the entire executive leadership of the country is assassinated and within hours—hours—the Greeks completely overrun Cyprus. That’s just too coincidental for me.”
“Lion, the Greeks aren’t the only ones with a motive to strike out at the Turks. You’d have to stand in line for that. There’s the Kurds, ISIS, the Russians, and don’t forget the Armenians, either.”
“Okay, point made, but you can’t dismiss the timing of everything that easily,” Lion followed up.
“No, I can’t, but I still can’t believe the Greeks are responsible for the attacks in Turkey.”
“You are familiar with the plaque at the entrance to Turkey’s military academy, aren’t you?”
“You mean ‘The greatest enemy of the Turkish nation is a Russian first and then a Greek’? I’ve heard rumors about that but never really put a lot of stock in it.”
“It’s there,” Lion confirmed.
“Okay, let me get ahold of Jim. I’ll pass on your suspicions.”
“So, Lion thinks the Greeks took out Turkey’s government to unify Cyprus?” Dani asked Jackson. She’d been relaxing at the piano playing David Benoit’s Human Nature.
“That’s right, and it’s hard to argue with the timing of this. The rest of it just doesn’t make sense but within just a few hours of the assassination of President Demirel and the rest of the executive leadership of the country, the Greeks move on Cyprus.”
“He doesn’t know about the missing nukes, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t. Let’s give Jim a call—I’m sure he didn’t have any lunch plans today anyway.”
“Jim, Stonewall here,” Jackson said as he heard his friend answer the phone.
“Hey, trust you’re both back in Tel Aviv?”
“That we are. Say, I just got off the phone with a friend of mine in the SAS stationed at Akrotiri . . . .”
“We’re on that. It seems the Greeks have virtually overrun the entire island.”
“That’s what Lion just said. He’s thinking that the Greeks were behind the two bombings as well.”
“There’s some sentiment to that over here as well,” Carmichael conceded.
“Jim, you can’t be serious?” Dani interrupted. “The only thing the Greeks are guilty of is opportunism. Everyone knows there’s no love lost between the Turks and Greeks but everything that’s been going on inside of Turkey lately is all ISIS. The Kurds aren’t even crazy enough to attempt what’s all gone down.”
“Dani, I get it,” Jim replied, “and you’re preaching to the choir, but the enmity between the Greeks and Turks goes back a little further than it does with ISIS. I wouldn’t put this past some of the more hot blooded Greeks in their military and their government. I don’t believe they did this for a minute but I wouldn’t put it past some of them to have at least thought about doing something like this.”
“That’s crazy! Jim, the current administration has thoroughly underestimated ISIS. They are way more organized and far more powerful than what your government believes.”
“Jim, look, this has ISIS written all over it,” Stonewall began. “None of these attacks have been on a direct basis. It’s all been done the same way I’d do it if I were a part of either Al Qaeda or ISIS—asymmetrically. We know ISIS has infiltrated Turkey to an incredible degree. We’ve got the assassination of Turkey’s air force and governmental leadership. Then there’s the attack on the secretaries at Incirlik plus the theft of our nukes. None of this was done in a typical direct action method. It’s all been low-risk, high-return attacks—the same way we do things in the Special Forces. If the Greeks’ only concern was unifying Cyprus, they wouldn’t have needed to do anything else given the depleted Turkish army on the island. I realize we didn’t know the extent of Turkey’s depleted military on the island, but the Greeks sure did—and that’s all that really matters.”
“Okay, I agree with you. I fully believe that ISIS is behind everything over there. I don’t think there is any question about that. However, there are people over here that still believe this is beyond ISIS’s capabilities—but a country like Greece not only has the motive, but the ability to pull it off as well.”
“That’s insane! The Greeks wouldn’t instigate this any more than we would.”
“Jim,” Stonewall broke in, “have you discussed this with any one at State yet? Or National Security Advisor McDowell? I would imagine both of them would lean pretty hard on the Greeks.”
“That’s my point. Both Pam and Andrea continue to downplay ISIS, yet they just stole a planeload of nukes from us. I haven’t spoken with either of them. I’ll be making a few phone calls and I
’m planning on speaking to my counterpart in Athens to see what he has to say for himself before I speak with anyone from State or the NSC.”
“Okay, let us know if you need anything from over here. We have a meeting with Tamir first thing in the morning. I know they are putting together a team to get their pilots back but not sure of any particulars on that.”
“Well, now that they have our nukes and their pilots, we might be on the same page once again. Let me know if anything develops.”
“Will do, talk to you later.”
“What do you make of Greece’s move on Cyprus?” Dani asked Stonewall as she continued with Benoit’s Human Nature.
“I think you’re right. The only thing they are guilty of is opportunism. ISIS is clearly behind everything that’s been going on in Turkey. The Greeks saw an opportunity and jumped at it. However, there are those in the government that will take some convincing of this—their first reaction is going to want to come down hard on the Greeks. State will eventually need to deal with the Cyprus issue but right now it doesn’t even rank as a sideshow to ISIS. My guess is that even the loss of the nukes isn’t going to convince either McDowell or Johnson about the serious threat ISIS poses.”
“Well, McDowell and Secretary Johnson are idiots. They are in way over their heads and don’t even know it.”
“No argument there,” Jackson agreed. “However, Jim is right. He needs to get everything together before he takes this to the President. I would imagine that both Axelsson and Johnson are headed home at this point and they’ll be meeting with him probably tomorrow morning.”
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia
2:20 PM Local Time
“Daniel, Jim Carmichael. What the hell’s going on in Cyprus?” Carmichael said into his phone, addressing the CIA Station Chief in Nicosia, Daniel Lopez.
“Well, it would seem that the Greeks decided to take advantage of the turmoil in Turkey to unite the island.”
“That’s what I’m beginning to think. How did we miss this? I haven’t seen any intel on a possible move by Greece on Cyprus.”
“Jim, we totally missed it. The Greeks have very subtly increased their military presence here. We saw the troop rotations but there was nothing alarming about it. We didn’t realize that more were coming in than were rotating out. At the same time, the Turks have drawn off their own forces for their war on ISIS and the Kurds. The Greeks didn’t hold any exercises. They didn’t have any PR campaigns. They didn’t do anything to tip their hand. This took everyone by surprise, even the local populace, which, of course, is completely ecstatic this evening.”
“What’s your read on any possible role Athens played in the two bombings in Turkey?”
“Are you kidding? That was all ISIS. Both of those took Athens, as well as everyone else, completely by surprise. I think the Greeks put everything into high gear after the attack on the air force high command but I’m sure the attack on Demirel this afternoon took them, as well as everyone else, by complete surprise. There was some loose talk among the locals that if another coup like 2016 developed, that the Greeks might make a move here but we never had any confirmation of this. I think everyone kind of thought this was more wishful thinking than anything else. Looks like there was more to it than anyone realized. My guess is that since these two bombings were so close together—and at very significant targets—that Athens wanted to move right away rather than waiting to see what might happen.”
“That’s kind of what I’m beginning to see. An opportunity presented itself, and they jumped at it.”
“That’s the way I see it,” Lopez confirmed.
“Okay, I’m going to call Athens to see what they have to say.”
“Well, you’ve got my opinion. Let me know if you need anything else.”
The White House West Wing
2:20 PM Local Time
“Andrea, not sure if you’ve heard the latest,” National Security Advisor Pamela McDowell commented to Secretary of State Andrea Johnson from her office phone in the White House, “but Greece might be the instigator of a lot of the problems in Turkey.”
“What do you mean? We’re a little behind schedule and I haven’t caught up on everything. What’s up?”
“Well, it seems within hours of the attack on President Demirel, the Greeks launched a strike on Cyprus, catching the Turks totally off guard. With this blitzkrieg, they had the island completely united under their control in a matter of hours. Mind you the Turks only occupied a small percentage of the island, however, I think everyone assumed that they had a larger military presence there than it turned out to be.”
“I knew there had to be more to everything in Turkey than simply ISIS. Listening to Axelsson on this trip, and then both Jones and Carmichael at CIA, you’d think ISIS is responsible for everything over here. There are a lot of competing interests over here that I don’t think they realize. The Turks have enemies on every border: Greece, Syria, the Kurds, the Armenians, the Russians, and yes, ISIS. Any one of them could be responsible for either, or both, of the bombings. Greece’s attack in Cyprus only reinforces that idea.”
“That’s my point,” McDowell replied. “After what we just did to the Russians, I could see them wanting to make trouble for us in the region, but I think that might be a bit too soon for something like this. Both the Kurds and ISIS are obvious possibilities, and then there’s Greece—complete with motive and capability. To date, nothing’s been found regarding the attack on Turkey’s air force high command—nothing—it could be the Kurds or it could be ISIS, but it could also have been the Greeks. I think we’re really jumping the gun on this laying it at the feet of ISIS.”
“I agree, Pam. Without any evidence, at all, there is no way we can discount Greece from any of the turmoil in Turkey—and we know the two countries absolutely hate each other. Obviously, ISIS is behind the latest incident at Incirlik—I can’t believe those fly boys let this happen. Anyway, send me what you have on Turkey and I’ll review it on the way home. We’re over northern Iraq right now so I’ll have several hours to look everything over before we meet up tomorrow morning.”
CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia
2:45 PM Local Time
“General Costas, Jim Carmichael, Assistant Director of the CIA,” Jim said, introducing himself over the phone to the Greek military intelligence chief.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Carmichael?”
“General, it’s about Cyprus and all of the turmoil inside Turkey. I think I understand why you moved on Cyprus tonight, but I just want to make sure.”
“Mr. Carmichael, it’s like this. The coup attempt back in 2016 caught everyone off guard, and I believe that includes the vaunted CIA, correct?”
“That would be correct. We did not see that coming,” Jim confirmed.
“I know you are aware of the tension between us and the Turks. Since 1974, the island has been unjustly divided due to the Turkish invasion. After the failed 2016 coup, we developed operational plans for unifying Cyprus. If it ever appeared that our interests there were threatened by a similar event, we would be able to implement them within just a few hours’ notice. With the turmoil that we have seen in Turkey this past week, who could argue that our interests were not at risk? The bombing at Eskisehir, the attack on your secretaries, the assassination of President Demirel, and, rumor has it, that there was another incident at Incirlik that occurred almost simultaneously with the assassination of Demirel, which I believe is not ‘common knowledge’ as you say? All would indicate someone is making a move on Turkey.”
“Our National Security Advisor and Secretary of State believe you’re the ones making the ‘move on Turkey.’ They see the enmity between your two countries and the fact that Turkey is currently preoccupied with both ISIS and the Kurds. What better time to try and pull something off like this than right now? Plus, as you say, your quick action, might actually lead some to refer to this as a ‘Greek blitzkrieg.’ It seems almost too coincidental, there had to b
e some involvement, if only a tip off that something was about to happen.”
“That’s preposterous, and I believe you know that, Mr. Carmichael. Clearly, someone is making a move on Turkey. I’m sure your people are telling you the same thing: it’s ISIS. We do not know their ultimate objective but they are clearly making a move on Turkey.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far. That clearly implies more than just . . . well, General, I don’t know what to believe at this point. I fully believe that ISIS is responsible for the attacks in Turkey this week, though I don’t know just how far this goes. I mean, are we looking at another coup attempt or are they simply trying to destabilize the government while they launch some kind of attack in southern Turkey? I just don’t know.”
“I do not have that answer for you, Mr. Carmichael. However, someone is making a move on Turkey. We fully believe it to be ISIS, and with that in mind we pulled the trigger on Cyprus. We didn’t want to give them an enclave on the island. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“So, you’ve been preparing for this since 2016?” Carmichael asked, ignoring the question.
“That is correct, but that should be no surprise. I’m sure your Pentagon has similar plans for similar operations. Actually, didn’t they used to call this the ‘War Plans’ division?”
“Yes, they did.”
“So you see Mr. Carmichael, we simply launched an operation for a plan we developed several years ago. We’ve steadily, though gradually, increased our forces on Cyprus. As we’ve increased our presence there, the Turks have diminished theirs due to their involvement with both the Kurds and ISIS. With their depleted forces plus the relatively small area of the island the Turks occupy, we were able to make quick work of the entire operation.”
“So it would seem, thank you, General Costas. I will pass this on to the President.”