740.5/9–1150
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Berry)
Subject: Importance to Turkey of Admission to NATO.
| Participants: | Mr. Feridun C. Erkin, Turkish Ambassador |
| Mr. Burton Y. Berry, Deputy Assistant Secretary, NEA |
Problem: Importance to Turkey of Admission to NATO.
Action Required: To take in consideration in formulating American position.
Action Assigned to: GTI.
Mr. Feridun C. Erkin, the Turkish Ambassador, at his own request, called this morning at 9:25. He said that he wished to continue a conversation that he had started with Mr. McGhee on September 8.1 On that occasion he had discussed the importance to Turkey of being included in the North Atlantic Treaty. He said that he was considerably disappointed when he was told by Mr. McGhee that he should not be “too optimistic”. He had reported this conversation to his Foreign Office, but prior to the receipt of his telegram, a telegram had been dispatched to Paris and repeated to Washington which he wished to read to me in translation. Before reading, however, he wished to furnish me with this background: Mr. Schuman had informed the Turkish Foreign Minister at Strasbourg that France would support the inclusion of Turkey in the North Atlantic Treaty. The same information was repeated to the Turkish Foreign Office by the French Ambassador in Ankara.2 Recently, however, Mr. Schuman told the Turkish Ambassador in Paris that some of the smaller nations members of the North Atlantic Treaty had indicated opposition to extending the treaty to Turkey. Mr. Schuman, therefore, suggested that Turkey might think about forming a regional pact which, beside herself, would include France, England and the United States. With this background, the Ambassador read his translation of the telegram received. It stated that the Turkish Government does not agree at all with the suggestion of Mr. Schuman that a regional pact be created as a substitute for membership in the Atlantic Treaty group. On the contrary, the Turkish government insists strongly and emphatically upon their need for membership, NATO. Whether [Page 1311] this need will be met will not depend upon the small nations but, upon the attitude of the great powers, namely, France, England and the United States and, most of all, upon the United States. It is therefore the duty of the Ambassador in France to inform Mr. Schuman of this fact and of the Ambassador in Washington to inform the United States Government.
The Ambassador then went over the well-known ground of why Turkey should be included in the Treaty. He added that the matter was more urgent than last year when he had urged the inclusion of Turkey. In the interval the Turkish people had begun to feel very dissatisfied for being treated as second-rate members of European society. In spite of the Truman Doctrine3 and all that America has done in Turkey, today they are beginning to feel abandoned when they see the center of American interest shifting to Western Europe. A wave of bitterness is growing. The Government has tried to correct the situation by asking for inclusion in the Treaty. This is publicly known. If it is refused, the feeling in Turkey of abandonment will be confirmed. Bitterness and disillusionment will grow. The Ambassador commented that we could count upon Russia to exploit fully this situation. However, we need never face such development if the, security problem of Turkey is raised to the same level as that of the Atlantic Pact nations.
The Ambassador told me that he was doubly embarrassed by the situation; first, because his government felt that the inclusion of Turkey depended upon the attitude of the United States and the stand that the United States took would be an indication of the effectiveness of his diplomacy. Secondly, when the matter of the inclusion, of Turkey was discussed a year ago,4 the first information received by the Turkish Foreign Office of the U.S. stand was received by the Turkish Ambassador in London from the British Foreign Office. Mr. Erkin asked, therefore, that when the American position as regards. Turkey’s request is determined, he be informed so that he may be the first to inform his government.
- Memorandum of conversation, September 8, between Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs George C. McGhee and Ambassador Erkin, not found in Department of State files.↩
- Jean Lescuyer.↩
- Reference is to the address of President Harry S. Truman before Congress on March 12, 1947 (Department of State Bulletin Supplement, May 4, 1947, p. 829, or Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1947, p. 176. For documentation on the origin of U.S. military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey in 1947 (Truman Doctrine), see Foreign Relations, 1947, vol. v, pp. 1 ff.↩
- For documentation on the question raised in 1949 of including Turkey in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, see ibid., 1949, vol. iv, pp. 1 ff.↩