301. Message From Prime Minister Macmillan to Secretary of State Dulles0

You are aware in general terms of the promising development in regard to the Cyprus question which has taken place since the debate in the United Nations. Zorlu and Averoff have had direct discussions1 with a view to finding a new approach to the problems of Cyprus on the basis of restoring Greek-Turkish friendship. The two Foreign Ministers explained their ideas to the Foreign Secretary in Paris a week before Christmas2 and asked if Her Majesty’s Government were agreeable to their continuing their discussions. From the account which they gave, it seemed clear that at that stage in their discussions no details had been settled and that they had not done more than exchange very general ideas. After the Foreign Secretary’s return to London the two Foreign Ministers were informed that Her Majesty’s Government welcomed their new initiative and wished them every success.

2. The general plan was that the two Foreign Ministers should discuss between themselves the internal aspects of a settlement in Cyprus, and that when they considered they had made sufficient progress there should be a round of tripartite discussions both to consider the results of their discussions on the internal aspects and to discuss the external questions such as treaties and guarantees, etc.

3. Since the meeting in Paris there have been some exchanges in Ankara through the diplomatic channel.3 We have not been given the details, and have deliberately refrained from questioning, but we understand that not much progress has been made. We learned very recently that the two Foreign Ministers would be meeting in Paris on January 16 or 17.

4. My colleagues and I regard these Greek-Turkish talks as a very important development to which we should give all possible encouragement. [Page 758] None of the familiar difficulties has yet been solved. But in the past any attempt to approach a solution of the Cyprus problem has come up against the inescapable fact of Greek-Turkish disagreement. If the Greeks and Turks can now work out together an agreed basis for a settlement, that would open up very different and more hopeful prospects for us.

5. In advance of any new agreement, the internal arrangements for Cyprus which we announced last June and August4 have to go steadily forward. It is not possible to stand still in Cyprus. If we do not go forward, there is the risk of slipping back and losing the ground gained since last summer. The steady advance of our progressive plan seems indeed to have been an important factor in bringing about the improved attitude of both Greeks and Turks. Certain further measures fall due to be taken at this stage. There is the Surridge Commission’s report5 on municipal government to which you will have seen references in the press. There is also the question of enabling legislation for the preparation of electoral rolls and constituencies for the Turkish House of Representatives. If the current talks come to nothing, we must be ready to fulfil our undertaking to the Turks to hold elections this year; and there is inevitably a time-lag between publication of the electoral legislation and the elections themselves. We had therefore decided that the electoral legislation should be published on January 15. However, when we heard that the two Foreign Ministers were to meet again in Paris this weekend, we decided that it would be right to defer publication of the legislation to enable the talks in Paris to take place in the best possible atmosphere. Unless the talks show some real signs of progress, we should not be justified in delaying more than a week or so. It must be remembered that in certain towns separate Turkish Councils have actually been functioning for some months and the situation requires to be regularised. As to the electoral lists, it is hardly conceivable that any agreement between Greeks and Turks could be other than on the basis of communal autonomy.

6. We expect an unfavorable reaction from the Greeks when these next steps are taken in Cyprus, even though both these publications would only be warnings of enactments to be made later. The Greeks are still deeply suspicious of our motives and are likely to represent, and possibly even to believe, that we are deliberately sabotaging Greek [Page 759] -Turkish rapprochement. It is tragic that the Greeks should completely misunderstand our position in this way. Nothing indeed could please us more than Greek-Turkish agreement on those problems which have vexed us for so long. I hope that if the need arises you will once again help us by using your great influence to convince the Greeks of our sincerity and to disabuse them of any misunderstanding. We are of course saying nothing to the Greeks for the time being about the publication of the electoral bill and the municipal report, but there has already been some speculation in the press.6

  1. Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Confidential. Enclosure to a letter from Caccia to Dulles, January 17. Notations on the source text read: “Handed to Secy 1/17/59 by Caccia” and “Sec saw.”
  2. See Document 296.
  3. See Document 297.
  4. Bilateral discussions between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus began in Ankara on December 28, 1958. George Pesmatzoglou, the Greek Ambassador in Turkey, represented his government. Foreign Minister Zorlu represented Turkey. Discussions centered on Turkish demands for bases on Cyprus and detailed guarantees for the safety and rights of the Turkish Cypriot minority, including representation in the government, civil service, and internal security forces of an independent Cypriot state. The talks concluded on January 4.
  5. Reference is to Macmillan’s June 19, 1958, proposals on Cyprus and the modifications announced on August 15.
  6. The Surridge Commission was established by the British Government to study the possibility of creating separate municipal councils for the Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations as a part of the Macmillan program for self-government. The Commission’s report recommended both the establishment of such separate councils and prompt elections to fill them.
  7. Printed from an unsigned copy.