Activities of the Turkish Air Force before the Cyprus Peace Operation (Part -2)
with the order issued by the Air Force Operations Centre, the fighter aircraft of the squadron commands were fully loaded on 16 July 1974. According to the order, the first six aircraft of each squadron planned to participate in the operation had to be kept in a state of readiness for 15 minutes, while the rest had to be kept in a state of readiness for 30 minutes.
In the first chapter, I briefly mentioned the danger of the Greek Cypriots taking over the whole of Cyprus after the Greek-backed coup d'état led by Sampson on 15 July, and in response to this, I stated that Turkey decided to carry out a peace operation by setting 20 July 1974 as 'G (the first day of the operation)' within the scope of the 'Star Operation Plan' prepared beforehand.
In this context, with the order issued by the Air Force Operations Centre, the fighter aircraft of the squadron commands were fully loaded on 16 July 1974. According to the order, the first six aircraft of each squadron planned to participate in the operation had to be kept in a state of readiness for 15 minutes, while the rest had to be kept in a state of readiness for 30 minutes.
For this purpose, deployments started at 08.40 on 16 July. In fact, 6 F-102 aircraft, which were on duty at Ghedi Air Base in Italy at the time, were recalled as they were planned to participate in the Cyprus Peace Operation.
While preparations were in full swing, some unfortunate events took place. On 18 July 1974, before the operation to be carried out in Cyprus, an F-100C aircraft belonging to the 132nd Squadron took off from Balıkesir 9th Main Jet Base for the purpose of returning to Konya 3rd Main Jet Base, and while the landing gear was slightly off the ground, it got stuck in a net-type barrier and fell off the runway. As a result of this accident, Air Pilot First Lieutenant Türker Aydın was martyred. Aydın was recorded as the first air martyr of the Cyprus Peace Operation.
As of 19 July 1974, the 171st and 172nd Squadrons stationed in Erhaç-Malatya, ½ (half) of the 181st Squadron and ½ of the 184th Squadron stationed in Diyarbakır were transferred to Incirlik, the other ½ of the 181st Squadron and ½ of the 152nd Squadron stationed in Merzifon were transferred to Antalya, The 131st Squadron stationed in Konya moved to Balıkesir (to counter a possible hostile Greek operation over the Aegean), the 112th Squadron stationed in Eskişehir moved to Sivrihisar and the 191st Squadron stationed in Balıkesir moved to Mürted Air Base.
What was the Purpose of the Air Operation in Cyprus?
The Cyprus Peace Operation was planned in accordance with the international law of war. The principles of the types of missions to be implemented by the Turkish Air Force in the execution of the operation were determined as follows:
- Attacks on targets in the vicinity of the drop and landing zones under the direction of Forward Air Controllers (FACs).
- Breaking the resistance of Greek and Greek elements in the drop and landing zones.
- Close protection of the amphibious landing convoy by dropping and helicopter landing columns.
- Maintaining mission-ready elements in the air and on the ground.
- Completion of the operation in a very short time.
- The unification of the troops brought to the island as a result of the landing operation in Kyrenia and the landing operation in Gönyeli and Kırnı (Krini/Pınarbaşı).
- After the coastal area is secured, the echelons move to the landing area.
- Preventing the Greek Cypriots from reinforcing the Nicosia and Kyrenia regions with the support of the Air Force.
Prior to the Cyprus Peace Operation, an order was issued to declare a general alarm effective from 04.40 on the morning of 20 July 1974. In the meantime, the command control of the Turkish air defence radars and squadrons, which had been previously declared to NATO within the scope of NATO defence planning and the distribution of peacetime air defence responsibilities/task areas, was taken back from NATO. In a way, this meant that all member countries of the Alliance, including Greece, learnt that the upcoming Cyprus Peace Operation would definitely take place. The operation could have started today or tomorrow.
As a matter of fact, when the Turkish airspace was closed to all kinds of air traffic as of 05.00 on 20 July, it became clear that it was only a matter of time before the operation started. Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, in his speech about the operation on the morning of 20 July, drew the framework of the Cyprus Peace Operation to be carried out by the Turkish Army by saying "We are going to Cyprus for peace" and declared to the whole world that it was a peace operation.
Ecevit stated that Turkey was exercising its right arising from international agreements in order to stop the oppression and bloodshed in Cyprus. He underlined that Turkey had to undertake the peace operation not to occupy Cyprus, but to guarantee the security of life and property of the Turks who wanted to continue their lives in peace on the island.
The first aircraft to take off to bring peace to the island was a tactical reconnaissance aircraft of the Turkish Air Force on the morning of 20 July 1974. One RF-84F aircraft of the Turkish Air Force, which took off from Incirlik Air Base at 04.49 hours, started to fly low over the skies of Cyprus for the first area reconnaissance mission before the attacks of Turkish aircraft, and the Turkish Army launched the Cyprus Peace Operation as a joint operation carried out jointly by the Land, Naval and Air Forces.
In line with the directive given by the General Staff to the Air Force Command for the first day of the operation; "There will be no general bombardment, only the targets in the landing and landing zones will be attacked, and during this attack, no fire will be fired unless the other side opens fire." Turkish Air Force aircraft started to perform air operation missions in Cyprus. This order was obeyed until the first anti-aircraft fire of the Greek National Guard Army.
