Chapter 1323: Chapter 1138: Strategizing Behind the Scenes

Of course, Qiao knew it would be troublesome!

If it weren’t troublesome, why would he bother to set things up?

Cyprus is a very interesting place…

According to geopolitics, Cyprus should belong to Asia.

But due to colonial reasons, this Mediterranean island, which includes Turks, Greeks, and the English, ended up joining the European Union as Asian territory.

Originally, this wasn’t an issue, but early territorial divisions between Turkey and Greece left Greece’s island territories surrounding Turkey’s western coast, causing Turkey to practically lose its control over the Aegean Sea.

Later, as Greek Cypriots took control in Cyprus and developed particularly close relations with Greece, the two countries became like a pair of pants, which heavily compressed Turkey’s southern maritime territory.

Effectively, Greece and Cyprus are used by the European Union to suppress Turkey, as Europeans don’t want to see Turkish influence extend into the Mediterranean.

Initially, Turkey swallowed its anger due to domestic economic problems, but as Erdogan used his unique inflation economics to drive Turkey’s rapid economic growth, Turkey couldn’t resist reaching out beyond its borders…

First Syria, then Liberia, Erdogan leveraged United Nations orders to strike ISIS, wielding the banner of ‘We are all Arab brothers’, to send troops into Syria and Liberia.

However, with the discovery of 1.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas in Cyprus’ maritime economic zone, and after energy companies announced they would invest in building several offshore drilling platforms, Turkey could no longer sit still.

Turkey also needs natural gas, but the European Union skipped over Turkey, planning to spend ten years building an underwater pipeline between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel, to balance the EU’s reliance on Russian gas, and also alleviate Israel’s energy troubles.

As mentioned earlier, extracting natural gas offshore at this stage isn’t profitable, but this EU-led strategic investment is different from ordinary energy development.

Making money is secondary; what’s most important is having an additional energy channel for oneself, to prevent future issues.

Once the pipeline is set up, the extraction volume can actually be controlled, and small imports won’t push European Union gas prices too high, which means costs are manageable.

Looking at it over the long term, this approach is definitely beneficial and farsighted!

As a natural gas-owning nation, Cyprus actually doesn’t have any say in this.

The European Union’s actions not only angered Turkey but also affected the interests of Russia and even America…

Russia is unhappy because energy competition may lead to a drop in energy prices, which they can’t afford.

America is displeased because they’re worried Europe will completely break away from American influence on energy issues.

So the internal chaos in Cyprus began!

And due to the weak military strength of the European Union and their lack of influence on Turkey, Cyprus will remain chaotic until America speaks up.

Traditional media keep emphasizing ethnic conflicts, but in reality, during national prosperity, there’s no such thing as insurmountable ethnic conflict.

But when regional powers have strategic needs, conflicts arise!

Cyprus was forcibly split into Southern and Northern Cyprus, and all energy projects were halted.

The uncomfortable ones here aren’t just Cyprus, but Israel too…

Because a portion of that 1.7 trillion cubic meters of natural gas is within Israeli-controlled waters.

With Turkey’s interference, Israel not only loses a source of revenue but also a connection with the European Union!

They inherently lack the capacity to build undersea pipelines. If they have to extract and then use ships to bring it home, they might as well buy from elsewhere.

Qiao used an ‘Israeli-made suicide boat’ to instantly disrupt the situation in the eastern Mediterranean…

As long as Turkey’s intelligence and technology departments aren’t too lousy, they can find the clues Qiao left for them, and with a little comparison with the drone boats held by a few naval forces in Djibouti, they can find the culprit.

Of course, just a few chips aren’t enough to convict Israel, but with Turkey’s frigate sunk, how could they afford to care about this?

You need to know that during this period, Turkey’s naval mainstay was just four outdated frigates…

The lack of maritime power always left them at a disadvantage in maritime conflicts with Greece, so in recent years they’ve been vigorously developing their shipbuilding industry and commissioning several new frigates, which raised Greece’s vigilance, leading to the Hydra-class Destroyers project.

Turkey has past grievances of being oppressed with sea power, so having an excuse now, wouldn’t they go crazy?

What exactly will happen between Turkey and Israel, Qiao couldn’t care less…

Qiao’s revenge is always from dawn till dusk, creating opportunities for his two enemies to clash with each other, which for him is all benefit and no harm.

He’s actually just trying to divert Turkey’s attention, so they won’t focus solely on Crete.

As for Israel…

Already up to their neck in trouble, being harassed by Turkey for some time is enough to keep them busy.

Whether it’s verbal attacks or warfare, neither side has the energy to pay attention to Qiao!

Compared to Qiao’s ease, France, as the leading boss of the European Union, can’t think this way.

Xiao Ma also doesn’t care about the sinking of Turkey’s frigate; he worries that it’s a terrorist attack or even a staged event by Turkey to find an excuse to drag NATO member countries into the water.

Turkey is not an EU member, but it is a NATO member…

The sinking of the frigate is definitely grounds for declaring war, and NATO member states will certainly need to make a statement about the incident.

What Xiao Ma needs to consider is how to suppress Turkey’s anger, make them swallow this huge loss, or at least not let things escalate.

But President Qiao is different; he is worried that when Turkey seizes the opportunity, they’ll drag the Syrian Secure Zone into the vortex.

So after he returned to Santorini, he ‘rested’ in his room, having drunk too much…

……………

And just as President Qiao expected…

This kind of ‘stress response’ after suffering an attack best demonstrates a country’s strategic intentions!

Whether in Syria or Liberia, or even in Greece, P·B is Turkey’s biggest stumbling block!

At the first moment of the attack, Turkey used the guise of striking the Kurdish extremist organization to launch airstrikes near the Secure Zone…

They planned, in this favorable situation, to mistakenly bomb the main tactical points of the Secure Zone under the pretext of Kurdish extremists entering the zone.

At 3 a.m. Syrian time, four Turkish F-16s brazenly entered Syrian airspace, launched an attack on a Kurdish town near the Secure Zone, and were shot down by anti-aircraft missiles when entering the Secure Zone’s airspace…

The attack resulted in casualties of 4 Kurdish civilians, and of the four F-16s shot down, only 3 pilots survived by parachuting, eventually captured by Sanderson-led Team B.

Immediately at 7 a.m., Teresa decisively contacted the Syrian Government Forces, who dispatched troops to escort the artillery battalion of the Secure Zone 450 kilometers northwest…

Then at 2 p.m., a Syrian opposition military base supported by Turkey, located 500 kilometers away from the Secure Zone, suffered a massive artillery strike.

Subsequently, both Syrian Government Forces and Kurdish Democratic Forces deployed troops, each capturing part of the opposition’s territory.

Sixteen 155mm large-caliber howitzers destroyed a military base covering tens of hectares within an hour; a large quantity of land-based weapons were destroyed, and numerous Turkish military personnel deployed were wounded or killed.

Turkey was initially bombing hastily, hoping to use its disadvantageous situation as a means to silence all major powers, letting them target the Kurdish Workers’ Party and uprooting this core point of regional stability in the Syrian Secure Zone, further destabilizing Northern Syria.

This was a last-minute decision, attempting to create an accomplished fact with the momentum.

However, they did not expect such a violent counterattack from the Secure Zone!

A military base with nearly 1,500 inside was razed in half an hour, including nearly 300 Turkish soldiers.

It’s important to know that since the UN authorized countries to deploy troops into Syria to combat ISIS, Turkey’s support for the opposition gained them such a vast territory; within almost 5 years they hadn’t suffered battlefield casualties exceeding 300 soldiers…

The mode of proxy and mercenary wars had long caused these NATO countries to forget the terror of the direct battlefield!

When death approached, they realized they were all mortal, still prone to death within the range of artillery fire.

……………

The next afternoon, a United Nations Secretariat spokesperson accepted a media interview…

Originally, to combat ISIS, the United Nations authorized various countries, allowing them to deploy troops into Syria when the Syrian Government was completely powerless, to jointly combat ISIS.

However, after entering, Turkey didn’t attack ISIS, but instead bombarded the Kurdish Workers’ Party, and amidst the Syrian chaos, fostered opposition forces seizing about a 2,000 square-kilometer narrow strip in Northern Syria.

When President Qiao eliminated ISIS, Turkey didn’t retreat, claiming the area was extremely crucial to Turkey’s national security, stubbornly holding it, occasionally intervening in Northern Syria under the pretext of striking the Kurdish Workers’ Party.

Now, the Turkey strike on the UN-established Secure Zone thoroughly angered those Secretariat officials originally powerless.

Can we not take action against you, Turkey, without touching the five major powers?

Before the five major power representatives could discuss a solution, the Secretariat spokesperson first condemned Turkey’s actions strongly.

Faced with media queries, the brave spokesperson indignantly stated that P·B would escort those 3 captured Turkish pilots to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for trial and arrange an investigation team to investigate the background and consequences of the attack.

Additionally, the spokesperson stated that Syria’s chaotic situation should be controlled, since ISIS had already been crushed, internal Syrian politics should return to negotiations, and Turkish-backed opposition forces are not recognized as legitimate armed groups by the UN.

As media based at the United Nations quickly relayed the news worldwide…

No one expected that the brave spokesperson, upon returning backstage, removed the Secretariat badge and switched to a Humanitarian Coordination Office badge, then caught a plane flying directly to Yemen to join Aljin.

Several major powers, not yet recovered from the unauthorized action bypassing the UN Security Council, were about to lash out and hold someone accountable, only to find that the person had been dispatched by the United Nations Secretary-General to a distant place for hard labor…

There was nothing that could be done…

The United Nations General Assembly serves as a platform for all countries to engage in debates under the looming threat of nuclear weapons.

The five major powers can’t possibly tear apart the United Nations’ facade completely, for doing so would eliminate a buffer zone in the world, exponentially increasing the risk of national conflicts…

While the representatives of the major powers brushed off media questions with ‘no comment’, President Qiao outrightly cursed Turkey’s Erdogan during his media interviews…