349. Memorandum of Conversation1
UNITED STATES DELEGATION TO THE FORTY-FOURTH MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL
Brussels, Belgium, December 3–5, 1969
SUBJECT
- Cyprus
PARTICIPANTS
-
United States
- The Secretary of State
- Martin J. Hillenbrand, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs
- Gerald B. Helman, First Secretary, U.S. Mission to NATO
-
Turkey
- Foreign Minister Caglayangil
- Ozdemir Yigit (Interpreter), Turkish Foreign Ministry
- Oktay Iscen, Turkish Foreign Ministry
The Foreign Minister reviewed the course of communal talks on Cyprus. He said that when the talks started, the two communities were on an equal footing but that the talks have shown the Greek community wants to make Cyprus into a Greek state. The Turkish community wants local autonomy but the Greeks offer nothing beyond local administrative facilities. The Turks want to maintain their identify as a community while the Greeks are willing only to grant some self-evident human rights, and those as a favor.
In brief, the Foreign Minister felt that the Greek community was trying to do through negotiations what it could not accomplish by force. They have sought to do this in various ways: by refusing to pay the salaries of Turkish state employees; by failure to spend anything on public works in the Turkish area; by denying the facilities of the state to the Turkish community; and by channeling foreign aid solely to the Greek community. The result is prosperity in the Greek community at the expense of the Turks. If there is to be normalization it must begin with these matters.
Secretary Rogers hoped that the two communities would work toward mutually acceptable arrangements.
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 27 CYP. Confidential. Drafted by Helman and cleared by McGuire and Brandt on December 4. The memorandum is Part III of IV. Parts I, II, and IV are ibid. The meeting took place at the U.S. Mission to NATO.↩