USSR 1991

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Chapter 559 The Aegean Sea Crisis (2)

Yanayev has his own considerations about the situation in Cyprus. The reason why the Soviet Union chose to intervene in the Cyprus dispute is to sell the bastion shore-to-ship missile system cooperated by the Soviet Union and Japan to Cyprus, and open the market for the sale of bastion in Europe. The pro-Soviet and pro-Russian regimes in Greece and Cyprus will likely become the first customers of the Soviet Union in the Mediterranean region.The second is to establish a springboard for the Soviet Air Force to intervene in the Mediterranean countries, and it will also become a thorn in the way of the Soviet Union threatening the security of southwestern Turkey.

The Soviet Union had established its own air force in Syria before to ensure the stable development of its allies in the Middle East. Now it is adding a bargaining chip in Cyprus, which has no intention of becoming a hidden danger to Turkey's regional security.And it also provides a good halfway point for intervening in turbulent North Africa.

Clerides was a little hesitant. He still didn't know whether to agree to the two requests made by the Soviet Union.At least the Soviet Union put forward its own conditions, unlike the half-conspiracy and half-conspiracy of the United States, which used verbal benefits to deceive itself.

Primakov began to explain the advantages of the bastion system to Clerides. Maybe he is not the best lobbyist, but Primakov has the best missile system in his hands, "It's not that we deliberately exaggerated, The K-300P Fortress system can be regarded as one of the most advanced shore-based anti-ship missile systems in the world. This missile is a shore-based version of the famous K-301 Ruby supersonic anti-ship missile. It adopts the MZKT developed by the Belarusian Manufacturing Bureau. Chassis. The bastion system is mainly used to attack sea and land targets. The effective attack range is 300 kilometers, and it can be used to defend coastlines with a length of more than 600 kilometers. If I say this, President Clerides knows who it is specially for Are you ready? No matter how many destroyers Turkey has, they need to consider the bastion system deployed on the east coast. And once the bastion is launched, their destroyers will have no time to avoid it."

Primakov continued to explain the current situation in Cyprus to Clerides, "Actually, I want President Clerides to recognize a fact. Do you still think that the Greek Navy can help you now? From the very beginning, both sides The naval strength is already in a state of inequality. Greece urgently needs eight Perry-class ships to change the situation of Turkey and Greece, but it did not expect that it would be placed behind the scenes by the United States."

"What do you mean by setting up?" Clerides asked.

"It means that there will be no more deals for eight Perry-class destroyers. The remaining seven US ships may have stopped trading and have been re-given to Turkey, understand?" Primakov took a deep breath and told Clerides this unfortunate fact.

Primakov's answer made Clerides feel worse. The Soviet envoy made it clear that if you don't save yourself, you won't even have a chance to protect yourself in the future.

Primakov said, "If you are equipped with a bastion system designed by the Soviet Union, at least you can make the Turkish Navy have some scruples. Of course, the safest way is to let the Soviet Union set up an air force base in Cyprus. As long as there is an air force base, Northern Cyprus Does the regime dare to continue going south?"

Primakov's gaze became firmer. The Soviet Air Force still had absolute confidence in dealing with Turkey. He said slowly, "What the Soviet Union has is not only the torrent of steel that pushes Europe flat, but also the Soviet Red Heroes." eagle!"

"I'm sorry, I need to think about it again." Clerides said, "Letting other countries set up military bases in Serbia will involve the nerves of the three countries. I think the attitude of the United Kingdom is also very important."

Primakov nodded, expressing his agreement with Clerides' statement, "Of course the Soviet Union knows, but there is one thing I want to make clear to President Clerides. After you have heard these words, you can decide what needs to be done. Is there no need for the Soviet Air Force to station troops in Cyprus?"

Primakov coughed and said slowly, "At least from the turmoil in Iraq and Libya, we can see that it is very unreliable to let the Muslin people decide the future of a country. They only want to go backwards Go back to the theocratic age of the Middle Ages, let the supreme real pig, and his spokesman, the Sudan, control these incompetent wretches. They hold high the banner of democracy and freedom, but in fact they do something that forces women to wear black robes and legalize women's property , using extreme doctrines to brainwash people’s hearts, and rejecting the progress of human civilization. Let me tell President Clerides what will happen to the Greek people once they lose their support.”

Clerides's first thought was to go back to confrontation, but Primakov was talking about much more than just confrontation.

"First of all, they will expel heretics. In their eyes, all Christianity and Catholicism are heresies that should be beheaded. Maybe they will collect your poll tax. The second is to tear down all the churches and let other sects from this island country Islam has disappeared, and Islam has become the only state religion. You may resist, but in fact they never thought about the chance of peaceful coexistence with the Greeks. For Kafir, genocide is their most direct means. Presumably The tragedy of the massacre of Armenia during World War I and the tragedy of the Greeks in 1974, no one wants to repeat it."

Hearing this, Clerides' expression became very ugly. Primakov's words made him understand that this is not just a war about sovereignty, but also about the future survival of the Greeks. .

"How do the verses in the Qur'an describe us heretics?" Primakov thought for a while, then said slowly, "Those who disbelieve and deny my signs are the inhabitants of Hell, and they will live forever Among them, those who deny My signs and despise them are the inhabitants of Hell, and they will dwell therein forever. For those who deny My signs and despise them, all the gates of heaven will not be opened for them, and they will not enter Paradise until the rope is Through the eye of a needle. This is how I will avenge the perpetrator."

"It's really going to this point, President Clerides asks his own people to ask for their own blessings. Even if Greece makes a fuss, considering the relationship between NATO members, the United States will not adopt strong sanctions, and Turkey's geographical location Location is far more important than Greece."

Primakov leaned forward a little so that Clerides could understand what he said, "So the last question, President Clerides still thinks that it is right to allow the Soviet Union to build a military airport in Cyprus. Wrong choice?"

Clerides restrained his dark color, and Primakov saw a kind of anxiety and uneasiness filling his face, and he knew that what he just said had worked.Now it was just a matter of letting Clerides think quietly for a while.

Presumably Clerides will hold a high-level meeting next to let everyone decide the future of Greece.

After returning to the hotel, Primakov began to report to Yanayev on the recent status of the negotiations with Cyprus, as well as Yanayev's most concerned issue of building a Soviet air force military base.Primakov reported the content of the conversation to Yanayev in detail, including a series of conditions proposed by the Soviet Union.

Yanayev sighed. He originally thought he could take Cyprus in one go, but he didn't expect that the other party was still hesitating and thinking, "It seems that Clerides still doesn't realize the urgency of the matter, or is he talking about these things?" The Greeks, deep down, are wary of us as well as the Americans?"

Primakov replied, "I am more inclined to the latter. Now Clerides seems to have been frightened, worried that his regime will be annexed."

Yanayev thought for a while, and this is indeed a problem. In order to reassure Clerides, the Soviet side should continue to act, "Then we will give the other party another guarantee."

"Give them another guarantee?" Primakov couldn't understand Yanayev's words. He had to raise his voice to emphasize the point. "What kind of guarantee do they need? The only thing Cyprus needs now is military guarantee!"

"Calm down, Comrade Primakov. The Soviet Union will not send troops into Cyprus. This matter will definitely be resolved on the negotiating table. It's just that the Soviet Union can sell weapons to our allies as much as possible before the conflict is resolved."

In Yanayev's eyes, wars and conflicts are equivalent to a large amount of foreign exchange income. One of the reasons why the United States became the big winner in World War II was the arms trade income of European countries.

Yanayev also seized every opportunity to sell arms, "selling 1161K Cheetah and 21631 Mob M corvettes to Cyprus and Greece, these are small frigates of no more than 1500 tons, but they all have the ability to launch caliber cruise missiles. Of course, the foreign trade version can be filled with club missiles, although it is restricted by the missile export treaty, it still has a range of 300 kilometers, if firepower and lethality are used as the decisive factors, these frigates are even more cost-effective than the Perry class.”

Primakov said, "We cannot make a deal with Greece at this time, and the United States also does not want to escalate this conflict."

Yanayev returned, "No one wants to escalate the conflict, Comrade Primakov. But the United States believes that this is not the time to dispatch the United Nations to intervene. Therefore, the Soviet Union must create an opportunity for Cyprus to mediate."

Yanayev believes that only the Soviet Union and the United States can hold Turkey in a tight grip, but Yanayev hopes that before the conflict ends, Cyprus can regain its disadvantages as much as possible.

"Rest early, I need to ask you to go to the United States when the results come out."

"To America?" Primakov asked suspiciously.

Yanayev replied, "Yes, there is another negotiation in the United States."

Chapter 5 Sixty Aegean Sea Crisis (3)

Clerides was dismayed to find that the entire political hierarchy in Cyprus was pessimistic about the civil war.They believe that it is impossible for Greece to defeat the northern regime supported by Turkey, and the move to agree to Turkey's peace talks is undoubtedly worse. When the US ally is unreliable, Cyprus urgently needs a new ally.

Although some people are worried about whether the Soviet Union will do the same thing as the United States, most high-level officials with pro-Soviet plots still believe that Yanayev will not cheat Cyprus once on this issue.What's more, losing a Cyprus close to the Soviet Union is equivalent to cutting off a considerable share of the Soviet Union's arms revenue.The Soviet Union also hoped to open up international market sales of missiles through Cyprus.

In the conference room, except for Clerides who did not express their opinions, everyone else maintained the tacit statement that Cyprus should cooperate with the Soviet Union instead of rejecting the last straw at the moment of crisis.As for the issue of the Cyprus garrison?They said that Britain already has an air force base in Cyprus, so what about adding another Soviet Union.

Clerides nodded, quite satisfied with the result, "Since everyone agrees that we should accept the conditions of the Soviet Union, the Cyprus government has agreed to the Soviet Union's establishment of a military base on our land."

"We want to know President Clerides' opinion, whether he agrees or rejects?" Someone asked a key question.But Clerides' answer made him speechless.

Clerides said in a deep voice, "Is my opinion important? It doesn't matter. It should be said that our opinions are not important. What matters is the opinion of Britain, Greece and Turkey. Now that you have decided on this plan, Cyprus Your future is in your hands."

Clerides' words made the meeting room fall into silence. Everyone understood what Clerides said. On certain issues that affect the decisive political situation, they are just puppets of the politics of major powers. The right to speak.

However, things were far from as simple as Clerides thought. Just after the meeting, Clerides received a call from Athens. President Stephanopoulos called Clerides himself. The content surprised Clerides even more.

President Stephanopoulos said, "Greece is going to avoid NATO's eyes and ears to trade warships with the Soviet Union, so it needs Cyprus as a cover. At that time, the representatives of the Soviet Union will make a deal with Clerides. After that, they will sell 'The situation is sold to the Greek government. Of course, these ships will be deployed in Cyprus to deal with the threat from Turkey."

Clerides was completely stunned when he heard this. How many chess pieces did the visiting Soviet special envoy play behind his back? Even the Greek president was brought into this game.

"Greece is now also helpless. The eight destroyers originally sold to us have become nothing, and now only one old Perry class has fallen into our hands, so now we buy Cheetah and Thug M light frigates from the Soviet Union, To barely maintain the balance of the situation. You must know that the United States has restarted the Perry-class project with Turkey, and the remaining seven Perry-class ships will be delivered to the Turkish Navy according to the previous contract."

Primakov's speculation about himself before became a reality, which also made it difficult for Clerides to accept this reality.All this is far worse than imagined.

Clerides hesitated and said, "Okay, I will be in charge of dealing with the Soviet representative, but I want to know if the Soviet Union is really reliable?"

Stephanopoulos asked rhetorically, "We have placed all our bets on the Soviet Union. Is there any other way besides trusting them?"

After that, there was only a long silence between the two sides, and there was heavy breathing.

Before hanging up the phone, Stephanopoulos told Clerides, "Choose to believe them, President Clerides, because there is no way out for us now."

There is no way out.This sentence has been echoing in Clerides' mind, lingering.

It was already the afternoon of the second day when Clerides summoned Primakov again. After staying in this small country where the smell of war was getting stronger until the second day, Primakov was obviously impatient. He wanted to I don't know when Clerides will discuss it.Just when Primakov wanted to leave the hotel and go directly to the presidential palace, he was summoned by Clerides again.

This time Clerides will give Primakov a definite answer, explaining the attitude of Cyprus.

Passing through the long corridor with mottled lights and shadows, Primakov saw Clerides at the end of the corridor. He looked around and found that there were no guards in this exquisitely designed courtyard, as if Clerides Kist distracted the others and wanted to talk to Primakov face to face.

"Sit down, Comrade Primakov." Clerides called Primakov to sit down and prepared a cup of coffee for him.

Primakov sat in front of Clerides, admiring the colorful scenery, and said with a smile, "It seems that such an exquisitely designed courtyard is only suitable for chatting, not so suitable for discussing conspiracy."

"The most important thing is whether that person is there or not?" Clerides asked back. "A person's state of mind determines the surrounding environment."