USSR 1991

Page 250

Yanayev said seriously, "Regarding the US evacuation of the aircraft carrier from Cyprus, can President Stephanopoulos still fail to see the situation? Do you really think that the US will be so kind to help Greece in Cyprus?" Do you want to overpower Turkey? President Mario very much hopes that Turkey can become an important pawn to contain the Soviet Union, so do you think he will give up Turkey for Greece?"

Stephanopoulos woke up suddenly. It turned out that the main point of what Yanayev said was here. He took a deep breath and said slowly, "You mean that the United States is actually using Greece to force Turkey to become an allegiance to the United States again. Is it just a hawk dog? Greece is just a role used by the United States from the beginning to the end?"

Yanayev revealed a truth that frustrated Stephanopoulos. "Not only Greece, but also Cyprus. You are all just pawns used by the United States."

"Damn it, damn Yankee!" President Stephanopoulos slammed his fist on the table fiercely, and he said angrily, "I understand, no wonder the Perry-class destroyers sold by the United States to Greece only accept It turns out that the United States has been suppressing one ship, why, does the United States still want to turn it into a bargaining chip to curry favor with Greece?"

In this way, President Stephanopoulos finally understood why the British air strikes would suddenly stop, and the Turkish troops stationed in Cyprus, which had been silent before, would suddenly launch an attack on the Cypriot troops.Why did the United Nations peacekeeping force contain the actions of the Greek garrison in the rear and refused to let the Greek government intervene in this dispute? It turned out that everything was Mario's conspiracy.He used Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and even the United Nations in order to cooperate with the United States to stage such a wonderful drama.

President Stephanopoulos had to admit in frustration that it was because of his greed that he became a pawn of the United States, and even fell into the current dilemma.

Yanayev corrected the other party’s statement, “To be precise, it’s not flattering, it’s just feeding the other party a bone at the right time. Only in this way will they be desperately loyal to the Americans. This move by the Americans is indeed very good. Insidious, even the Soviet Union did not expect this step."

In fact, Yanayev had already anticipated Mario's actions before, but she didn't expect Maziel to surrender so quickly, so that he was a little surprised and sullen.

"Then what should we do now? Chairman Yanayev." Stephanopoulos was already in doubt. This is the fire pit he jumped into himself, and he had to wipe his ass anyway.

"What should I do? I just want to know if you want to drive out all the Turks in Cyprus?" Yanayev asked.

"Of course, we very much hope." Whether Stephanopoulos, previous leaders worth mentioning.All of Greece blamed Turkish interference for the Cyprosian civil war.So much so that this pair of feuds are still hostile to this day.

Yanayev said, "Well, if Greece is willing to cooperate with the Soviet Union, then at least we can let you keep the territory you have captured now, how about it?"

As an arms purchase target for Greece, at least the Soviet Union has always maintained a high degree of tacit understanding with Greece on anti-Turkish issues, so Stephanopoulos nodded and said, "Okay, we are willing to cooperate with Turkey, but I just want to know what you use How to deal with the current Turkey?"

"Since you are willing to believe, then the Soviet Union will naturally have a chance to do something." Yanayev did not intend to explain the next action to Greece. After hanging up the phone, Yanayev breathed a sigh of relief.He raised his head and said to the person standing beside him who had been waiting for him to speak, "Comrade Primakov, I kept you waiting."

Primakov's answer seemed a little bland, indifferent as if lacking in enthusiasm, "It's been a long time, Comrade Yanayev. Counting from August [-] to now, six years have passed. ?”

"Yes." Yanayev looked at the former Soviet president's senior foreign policy adviser, feeling a little bit of the impermanence of the world.Originally Yanayev wanted to promote him to be the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, but because he chose the Gorbachev camp in the August [-] coup, he firmly believed that the August [-] Committee would fail sooner or later.When Yanayev took control of the situation in the country, Primakov also became the target of liquidation and was ordered to withdraw from politics early.

Over the years, Yanayev has also conceited that he does not need foreign policy advisers around him. He didn't realize until the situation became more and more complicated. In front of some shady deals.

At this time, the foreign intelligence expert Primakov re-entered the Kremlin's field of vision from the frozen state. Yanayev no longer intends to care about his position in the coup. He wants to know now, Primakov Whether Kov would like to pledge his allegiance to Moscow.

The answer is yes.

Yanayev put a document on the table, and he said to Primakov, "This time I hope you can secretly visit Cyprus as the President's special envoy to discuss military transactions with the President of Cyprus."

Primakov took the document from Yanayev's hand, opened it a few times, and retracted his gaze from between the lines. He raised his head and said to Yanayev, "General Secretary Yanayev, Is it really okay to do this? Is this challenging Turkey's tolerance?"

"Of course there is no problem. Turkey has provoked Moscow's bottom line time and time again. If we don't fight back, they will not restrain themselves, especially regarding the anti-missile system."

Yanayev leaned on the sofa and said calmly, "After the Cyprus issue is resolved, I think Maziyer will naturally know how Turkey should maintain a balance between the United States and the Soviet Union."

Holding up the papers in his hand, Primakov asked, "So we're using them like the US is using Cyprus? Poor guy."

"Yes, but politics is a combination of interests. There is no such thing as pity." Yanayev said with a smile, "Besides, the enemy of the enemy is our friend. The Soviet Union is doing business with a good friend."

Chapter 558 The Aegean Sea Crisis (1)

It is not convenient for Yanayev to directly intervene in the disputes in Cyprus, not to mention that no president of any country visits other countries when civil wars occur. This is not a wise choice.Therefore, the communication between Yanayev and Cypriot President Clerides needs to rely on the relationship of the President's special envoy for communication.This is why Yanayev needs Primakov to return as the president's foreign policy adviser.Primakov was far more useful than the Soviet foreign service on certain issues where it was not clear.

This is also Primakov's first political mediation after visiting Saddam before the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1991. When he arrived in Baghdad, the whole city was already in a state of war preparation, and there were tanks and armored vehicles patrolling everywhere. The figure, Primakov's convoy was escorted by the army to Saddam's official residence.Just like Cyprus is now.It's just that Cyprus has not set up a no-fly zone. The British Air Force has always held air supremacy, but many flights to and from Cyprus have been closed after the outbreak of the civil war.

When the plane flew to the taxiway, Primakov was surprised to find that the whole airport seemed to be silent. It seemed that after the war began, Nicosia also fell into the environment of Baghdad.

When Primakov stepped off the plane, the tarmac was full of armored vehicles, and soldiers with rifles were standing guard on the tarmac.Cypriot diplomats personally greeted Primakov at the airport and apologized to him.

"I'm sorry, Cyprus is currently in a state of civil war. It is really our fault that Primakov's special envoy rushed from Moscow to such a war-torn place." The diplomat said apologetically.

"It doesn't matter, this is my duty. For the friendship between Cyprus and the Soviet Union." Primakov didn't care about the diplomat's words. He had been to the more dangerous Middle East back then, and he was still afraid of Cyprus. civil war.However, on the way to the presidential palace, Primakov still obtained some information about the civil war from diplomats.

Since the US fleet withdrew from the waters of Cyprus, the Turkish troops stationed in Cyprus launched a counterattack. At the same time, aid from Ankara has also been continuously shipped to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.Let this originally one-sided war gradually become a tug of war.

Although Cyprus has the assistance of the Greek army, the disparity in strength even makes it difficult for Cyprus to keep the two captured cities.Now President Clerides just wants to end the war as soon as possible and return to the point of talking about issues at the negotiating table.But the opposite regime doesn't think so.

With the support of the Turkish army, they are eager to expand their results. In addition to taking back Morfu and Lefka, they also want to usurp more territories and fulfill their dream of occupying the entire Cyprus.

And Turkey has also vigorously assisted Cyprus to realize this dream. Who doesn't want to make Cyprus a part of Turkey.In this way, Mazier is equivalent to having a springboard in the Aegean Sea to help him extend his influence to any region in the Mediterranean Sea.

After listening to the narration of the diplomats, Primakov finally knew how serious the situation in Cyprus is now.In short, Clerides believed in Mario's promise, which led to this situation.Primakov deeply regretted this situation and understood why Yanayev would let him go to Nicosia.

"How long will it take before I see His Excellency the President?" Primakov asked respectfully.

"After half an hour, the president is already waiting for your arrival in the study." The diplomat replied respectfully.

Half an hour later, Primakov was taken by the foreign minister to the presidential office of Cyprus. In the elegant and luxurious presidential study, Clerides was frowning and smoking alone, and saw Primakov After that, he quickly stubbed out the cigarette, smiled, and stood up to welcome Primakov.The two sides are ready to turn to the topic and discuss the cooperation between the Soviet Union and Cyprus.

After seeing Clerides, Primakov omitted the step of greeting, and said directly to the melancholy president, "I heard that since the United States withdrew its fleet from the waters of Cyprus, the situation of the civil war in Cyprus has gradually changed. If the ground is reversed, who will pay for this civil war?"

Primakov knew that Clerides had always had no way out of this kind of thing. Once he compromised, it would be a devastating blow to Cyprus.

"Who will pay the bill?" Clerides smiled wryly, revealing the tiredness of having not closed his eyes for several days and nights.He coughed a few times, and then said, "Special Envoy Primakov, do you know what the consequences will be if we choose to compromise? The offensive of the Turkish army will not stop, and they will return Morfu and Leif Card. Then continue to advance south, just like the civil war in 1973, this time the ambitious Turkey may not be as simple as just looting 30.00% of the country.”

"What about Greece? Don't they have any support?" Primakov asked.

"Greece?" Clerides leaned on the sofa and vomited bitterly to Primakov, "What is Greece? Can we still expect Greece to provide selfless assistance? There are too few Greek troops stationed in Cyprus, and the Greek The aid is limited to arms aid, but the Turkish army has 3 troops stationed in Cyprus? How does it compare?"

Clerides' conversation caused Primakov to fall into silence. He did not expect that the situation in Cyprus was far more complicated than he imagined. It is no wonder that Yanayev proposed such an incredible plan to himself.

"Now we can only rely on ourselves." Clerides said slowly, "We have closed Nicosia International Airport, and the entire country of Cyprus has entered a state of emergency mobilization. We will call on all Greeks to survive for themselves We fought for our homeland. Before we accepted this batch of damn Muslin out of kindness, but now they want to drive us to extinction!"

When it comes to the conflict between the Turks and the Greeks, it can be traced back to a very deep origin.Historically, the people of Cyprus were mainly Greeks who immigrated in the classical period. Even under the rule of the Byzantine Empire, they did not lose the core of Greek culture.After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Republic of Venice briefly took over Cyprus, but at the end of the 16th century the Catholic League was defeated by the Ottoman Empire, the Turks occupied the land, and Primakov migrated a lot.The ethnic conflicts between the Turks and the Cypriot locals, as well as the Islamic rot policy implemented by the Ottoman Empire, have planted a time bomb for the long-term religious and ethnic conflicts in Cyprus.

That is to say, from the 16th century, Cyprus planted the seeds of hatred until Cyprus became independent and took root.

Cyprus was ceded to Great Britain after the defeat of the Russo-Turkish War.The decolonization trend after World War II finally allowed Cyprus to become an independent country in the 60s.However, the Zurich Agreement in 1959 was signed by Turkey, the United Kingdom and Greece. The purpose is simply to check and balance each other to ensure that the independence of Cyprus is not violated.However, Cyprus never seems to have been truly independent.Cyprus, as a country with two main nationalities, Greeks and Turks, became the center of the struggle between the two nations after independence.The Greek-Turkish coalition government could not reach an agreement on many things, and bloody conflicts continued. The large-scale conflict in 1963 directly led to the loss of the Turks' political power in Cyprus.

In 1974, the Greek ultra-patriotic organization launched a coup, overthrew the government at the time, and elected ultra-patriotic Greek elements to power, which also directly led to the Turkish invasion in 1974.

In July and August 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus twice, directly causing 7% of the Cyprus territory to be occupied, and a large number of Greek civilian casualties.In order to retaliate against their long-standing oppression by the Greeks, the Muslins of Turkey carried out a rather appalling ethnic cleansing in this invasion.

"They took away the land where we lived, the paradise where we lived for generations, but what did these Muslins return? It was a brutal massacre!"

No wonder Clerides said that none of the Muslins on the land of Cyprus were innocent.They are all responsible for the death of the Greeks.

When Clerides stopped complaining, Primakov said to Clerides, "We are very sympathetic to the current situation in Cyprus. I think if the Soviet Union can help Cyprus solve this problem properly, what will happen to Cyprus?" return?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Clerides said alertly.

"We can get Cyprus and the northern Turkish regime to reach a ceasefire agreement, but I want to see your sincerity." Primakov slowly revealed the conditions Yanayev gave him.

Clerides said, "If the Soviet Union can guarantee the security of the Cyprus regime, then Cyprus is willing to accept any conditions proposed by the Soviet Union. Except for threats to the integrity of the country's sovereignty."

"Okay." Primakov waited for the other party to say the condition.He couldn't wait to say, "There are two requests from the Soviet Union. One is to help Cyprus build a new bastion shore-to-ship missile defense system, and the other is that the Soviet Union requests to build an air base like the United Kingdom on Cyprus."

"Believe me, President Clerides, although I know you want to extend your slaughter knife to the northern regime, it's not now."