Office of the Historian

740.5/10–1251: Telegram

The Ambassador in Turkey (Wadsworth) to the Secretary of State 1

top secret
niact
Ankara, October 12, 1951—9 p. m.

349. Tripartite mil mission arrived Ankara at noon and in course formal calls on Min NAT Def, FonMin, Chief Gen Staff and PriMin, has reed sincere welcome and assurances Turkey’s keen desire make maximum contribution to NATO and ME defense. Mtg with PriMin continued half-hour beyond allotted time.

Three points made by him merit special mention:

1.
PriMin himself would preside tomorrow’s all-day “business” session. He would be assisted by Min NAT Def, FonMin and Chief Gen Staff and their principal assistants. He asked and we agreed that three mil chiefs be accompanied by their chief assistants and by Brit, French and US Ambassadors.
2.
He fully shared our view that, if Egyptian Govt extended invitation, tripartite mil mission shld become quadripartite,2 a Turk general with appropriate assistants to accompany them on Cairo visit. PriMin and FonMin felt strongly such visit highly desirable this time on political as well as mil grounds, always assuming receipt of formal invitation from Egyptian Govt.
3.
Towards end meeting PriMin handed each mil chief a copy of top secret memo entitled “The Position of Turkey in the North Atlantic Treaty Org”. Full text is given in my immediately fol tel.3 We shall study it this evening, discuss it with Turks tomorrow and report reactions thereafter.4

Gen Bradley concurs.

Wadsworth
  1. Repeated to London, Cairo, and Paris for MacArthur.↩
  2. See editorial note, infra. ↩
  3. Telegram 350 from Ankara of October 13, not printed, reported the Turkish estimate of Turkey’s strategic position, its present armed strength, its potential wartime strength, and its military, economic, and financial needs (740.5/10-1351).↩
  4. For documentation on the Conference of U.S., U.K., and French Representatives with Turkish Prime Minister and Staff at Ankara on 13 and 14 October 1951, see volume v .↩