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326 TURBULENCE AND TERROR
scandal. Jndeed, the fact that Turkey knew the White House was
in turmoil contributed to its decision to invade. 23
On the morning of 19 July, British sigint reported that the
Turkish 39th Division, which had long been earmarked for
possible intervention in Cyprus, was getting ready to move. At
2.50 that afternoon the JIC issued what the British commander
on Cyprus, Sir John Aiken, called a 'remarkably accurate assessment'
of Turkish objectives in Cyprus and capabilities. 24 Thirty
minutes later came reports of a large force sailing from southern
Turkey.25 The progress of this armada was tracked by Nimrod
sorties over the night of 19-20 July. After an 'extremely tense
night', the Nimrod detected the main force of thirty-four vessels
off the north coast of Cyprus, and at 4.30 a.m. it reported that
the Turkish fleet was turning towards the coast. Meanwhile,
ground stations captured sigint from Turkish strike aircraft lifting
off from Antalya and Incirlik. These planes were on an attack
course. 'The Nimrod was speedily withdrawn and actually
cleared the area only a minute or so before the first wave of
Turkish aircraft arrived.'26 This sigint was being shared in real
time with Washington. On the evening of 19 July - early in
the morning of 20 July on Cyprus - US Secretary of Defense
James Schlesinger phoned Kissinger and reported: 'Turks took
several F-l OOs off about 3 hours ago from one of their bases in
Turkey - they were loaded up ... My own guess is they have
a notion that before you land on a beach you are supposed to
drop bombs on it.' By daylight a major Turkish offensive was
in progress, with a large parachute drop north of Nicosia.27
Kissinger had done all he could to prevent the crisis, but now
lamented that 'The animals are out of their cages.'28
Heavy fighting developed over the next ten days, and at the
end of July, with things hotting up, Aiken, the British
commander in chief, decided to cease British reconnaissance
flights over Cyprus for fear of an incident. 29 Britain's SIS
remained active because of its large station on Cyprus, and was
at pains to keep the senior CIA officers at the American Embassy
in London supplied with up-to-date reports. The CIA's own