How did the only confrontation within NATO begin?

How did the only confrontation within NATO begin?

On July 20, 1974, Turkey sent troops to invade the Republic of Cyprus and occupied 36 of the islands. % of the territory to "protect" the Turks on the island, and established the so-called "Northern Cyprus Turkestan Peace".

Although a small number of Greek troops came down to help, they could not prevent the numerically superior Turks from attacking the city and ultimately achieving a military victory. So, why did Greece and Türkiye, both NATO allies, fight regardless of their status as allies?

Greek-Turkish feud

The hatred between Greece and Turkey has a long history and continues to this day and cannot be eliminated. As the birthplace of Western civilization, Greece has a long history. The well-known Greek city-states were formed in 800 BC and reached their peak around the 5th century BC.

Having experienced several invasions from the Persian Empire, the Greeks were particularly wary of the greedy hands extended by the huge empires in the Middle East across the Aegean Sea to the Balkans. After experiencing the protracted civil war of the Peloponnesian War, Greece's golden age ended. It first surrendered to Macedonia in the north and then merged with Rome.

The Greeks who were incorporated into Rome still influenced the Romans with their own culture and institutions. The Greeks also enjoyed citizen treatment in Rome. Even after the division of the Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire still did not change this. A tradition. Under the patronage of the Romans, the Greeks constructed their national identity.

But when their pillar, the Eastern Roman Empire, is about to collapse, who can be their refuge?

The Fall of Constantinople

In 1453, with the fall of Constantinople, the iron hooves of the rapidly rising Ottoman Turkish Empire set foot on the Balkan Peninsula. The Ottomans appointed Albanians as governors of Greece, imposed heavy taxes on non-Muslims, and Ottoman troops often plundered Orthodox Greek families. This was the beginning of the feud between Greece and Turkey.

In 1821, an uprising broke out in Greece and quickly spread to the Peloponnese Peninsula, Crete, and the Aegean Islands. The Ottoman Empire, which had become the "sick man of West Asia", failed to suppress the uprising despite paying a huge price. Finally, with the support of Britain, France and Russia, Greece succeeded in becoming independent.

Greek War of Independence

Although Greece and Turkey were on the same front against Bulgaria and won victory in the Second Balkan War, this instability was caused by specific interests at a certain moment. The alliance is not enough to improve relations between Greece and Turkey. During World War I, Greece joined the Entente and Ottoman Turkey joined the Central Powers. The two countries began to expel each other and massacre Greeks and Turkish people in their respective countries.

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire disintegrated, and Turkey only retained its core areas of rule in Asia Minor and the East Thrace region of the Balkan Peninsula. Seeing the decline of Türkiye's national power, Greece showed its sword against the latter.

In 1919, Greece launched a war and occupied most of Turkey's territory, capturing only the Sakarya River along the way, and its troops were directed towards Ankara. In the end of this war, under the leadership of Kemal, the founding father of Turkey, the Turkish army successfully repelled the Greek invading army.

Cyprus War

After the outbreak of World War II, Greece was invaded by fascism, while Turkey learned the lessons of World War I and adhered to neutrality. During this period, the two sides were relatively peaceful. Shortly after the war, in order to face the powerful Soviet Union and its camp of socialist countries, the West established NATO to confront it. Greece and Turkey both joined NATO.

However, being in the same camp could not prevent the two countries from constantly arguing. In the end, during the Cyprus War, the previous hostility and conflict between the two countries turned into a firefight, which became NATO's only "civil war" .

Cyprus is located on the west side of Syria and is an island country at the easternmost tip of the Mediterranean Sea. Greeks began to immigrate to the island of Cyprus in the 12th century BC, so the residents of Cyprus were deeply influenced by Greek culture. In the 16th century AD, the island of Cyprus was captured by the rising Ottoman Empire.

In 1878, the island of Cyprus was ceded to the United Kingdom by the Ottoman Empire. It did not gain independence until 1960.

Such a small island dominates the southern coastline of Türkiye, and its geographical location is not unimportant. Since the British colonial rule, they have always adopted the old method of intensifying conflicts between various local ethnic groups. The Greeks and Turkish people on the island have always been at odds. After independence, the smaller Turkish people occupied a larger proportion of parliamentary seats. It also made the Greek people unhappy.

Soon the two communities on the island began armed conflicts. At the same time, Turkey had begun its invasion plan and sent a task force to control the strategic route from Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, to the seaport of Kyrenia until the United States After the president wrote a warning, Turkey was forced to allow Greeks on the island to pass through this important road accompanied by United Nations peacekeepers.

In 1974, the Greek military group instigated a coup in Cyprus, and Turkey invaded the sovereign country of Cyprus on the pretext of protecting the Turkish people in Cyprus.

They planned a combat plan called "Attila 1". On July 20, 1974, they dispatched the 6th Amphibious Infantry Regiment, the 50th Infantry Regiment, a tank battalion and a special A large number of troops, including the attack brigade, formed a situation that could crush the Serbian army.

Although the Serbian army resisted heroically and even launched a night attack to kill the commander of the Turkish 50th Infantry Regiment, they were still defeated by the Turkish army's superior strength and air force cover. On July 22, the Turkish army captured Kyrenia after receiving reinforcements, and thousands of Greeks fled their homes.

On July 23, despite the ceasefire order from the United Nations, Turkey still desperately expanded its results. At that time, Turkey wanted to capture the Nicosia International Airport in the capital of Cyprus, and a Greek army of 950 people was stationed at the airport.

In order to help the Serbian army resist the Turkish invasion, the Greek army also joined the battlefield. Under the resistance of the Greek-Serbian coalition, the Turkish army failed to achieve its occupation goal, and the Greek army also paid the price with 88 people killed, 148 injured, and 83 missing.

From July 25th to 30th, the parties launched peace talks in Switzerland, but no results were achieved. Because NATO failed to effectively sanction Türkiye, Greece withdrew from the military command system within the framework of NATO in anger. The Turkish army in Cyprus still maintained an aggressive posture.

By early August, it had increased its troops to two divisions and several special attack brigades. They then formulated a plan called "Attila 2" The combat plan continues to expand the results of the aggression.

Relying on this combat plan, the Turkish army successively occupied 36% of the territory of Cyprus, and established the "Northern Cyprus Turkestan Democratic Republic" in the occupied area, which only it recognized. A large number of Greeks were driven out of their homes.

The confrontation continues

After the end of the Cyprus war, the relations between Greece and Turkey continued to be on a high line. In addition to the fierce conflicts over the Cyprus issue, the two countries also have territorial disputes in the Aegean Sea. After its defeat in World War I, the Ottoman Empire was forced to cede a large number of islands in the Aegean Sea to Greece. After World War II, conflicts between the two sides continued to intensify over the issue of the Aegean Sea.

According to the 1958 Geneva Regulations on Islands and Island Shelves, Greece believes that most of the continental shelf in the Aegean Sea should belong to Greece. Turkey believes that the continental shelf in the eastern Aegean Sea is a natural extension of the Asia Minor continent, and Greece is close to Turkey. The islands are the "raised part" of Turkey's continental shelf, so Greece should not enjoy the island shelf.

In addition, both Greece and Turkey previously abided by the 6-nautical-mile territorial sea claim, but when more and more countries in the world began to support the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea claim, Greece also wanted to open a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea claim with Turkey, but there was not much progress. .

In February 1987, Greece sent an oil exploration ship to the waters near Thasos Island in the northern Aegean Sea. Turkey was furious and accused Greece of violating the 1976 agreement between the two countries that prohibited both parties from engaging in international oil exploration in the Aegean Sea. oil exploration treaty in the waters, and attempted to unilaterally expand the continental shelf in the disputed waters into the Greek continental shelf.

The angry Turkey sent four frigates and one exploration ship to the disputed waters with Greece, and the Turkish armed forces were put on alert. Not to be outdone, Greece ordered the army, navy and air force to be on alert. Fortunately, NATO intervened and the two sides did not really fight.

On January 25, 1996, the Greek flag was raised on the island of Imia, located less than 4 nautical miles away from the Turkish coast. Two days later, Turkish reporters also boarded the island by helicopter to raise the Turkish flag. flag, while the Greek flag was lowered. Greece reacted violently and immediately sent naval commandos to the island to raise the Greek flag again.

Greece and Turkey have been at war over the ownership of this small island, and there are even threats of war. The two sides then sharpened their knives and mobilized their troops. Dozens of frigates and submarines faced off at this place, and the war was about to break out. This time, the United States and NATO came out to put out the fire, calling on both sides to resolve the issue through peaceful means.

But even if this incident is suppressed, the conflicts between the two sides in economic, territorial and other aspects are not so easy to cover up.

Conclusion

Although Greece has a glorious history of ancient Greek civilization, its historical inheritance comes more from the Eastern Roman Empire. Naturally, it will destroy the Eastern Roman Empire and occupy Constantinople. The Turks hated him to the core.

After World War II, the world entered the Cold War period, and economic and territorial issues became the main theme of disputes between the two countries. Although both countries have joined NATO, the two countries have always maintained relatively strong armaments and have many conflicts with each other, which can still be resolved to this day.