“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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 be 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.”