Mauled by the Bear (NWCM2)

Mauled by the Bear (Part 2 of 8)

Cyprus Affair Campaign

New World Order Series

HDS3 MEDC Battleset

When the NSC made good on its promises to deliver SA-10 Grumble SAM systems to the Greek Cypriots in Spring 1995, despite Turkish protest, the stage was set for another conflict in Cyprus. The presence of the advanced weapons shifted the delicate balance of power, as it put nearly all aircraft operating from the Turkish side of the island at risk. When regular Turkish forces stormed the island a few months later, NATO was embarrassed. It had not been aware of Turkey's intention to reclaim Cyprus once and for all. Hand in hand with the economic boom in the NSC came military modernization and revitalization, funding for which was fuelled at least partly by an unprecedented level of arms exports. The NSC would no longer sit idly by while its national interests were decided by others. It launched a major attack against Turkey in June 1995. The NSC did not believe NATO would intervene in the Cypriot affair after having been snubbed by its Turkish partner and after the beating it had received in the Baltic conflict a year earlier. The NSC was wrong.

Heeding the lessons learned as an observer of the 1991 Gulf War, the NSC pounded Turkish military bases and command facilities with air strikes for the first few days of the conflict. By 11 June 1995, most Turkish bases in the north of the country were either destroyed or severely damaged. NATO was protesting loudly against NSC actions, but as of yet no major strategic moves had been made. This scenario examines the difficulty experienced by the Turks in their attempt to defend the northern half of their country while confined to bases in the south. (Released August 2000).