Eastern Mediterranean Region


1. Letter From Senator Thomas Eagleton to Professor Zbigniew Brzezinski

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, 1976–77 Transition File (Anthony Lake), Box 103, Cyprus/Turkey: 5–10/76. No classification marking. The letter was sent from Brzezinski to Governor Carter’s advisers Stuart Eizenstat and Robert Hunter under a September 7 covering memorandum alerting them to the likelihood that the Cyprus issue would come up during Carter’s Presidential campaign. Brzezinski, a professor at Columbia University, advised Carter on foreign affairs during the campaign. Also attached but not printed is an August 30 status report on congressional hearings on the Defense Cooperation Agreement between the United States and Turkey.


2. Paper Prepared by Cyrus Vance for Governor Carter

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Office, 1976–77 Transition File (Anthony Lake), Box 103, Cyprus/Turkey: 5–10/76. No classification marking. At the top of the page, Vance wrote, “Governor—Per your request I have prepared this brief paper on Cyprus, Greece, and Turkey. Hope it’s helpful in the debate. I believe this is one of the most vulnerable points in the Republican record. Cy.” Vance, an attorney in private practice and a former Deputy Secretary of Defense, advised Governor Carter on foreign affairs during the campaign. It is likely that Vance was referring to the second of three debates between Carter and President Ford. The debate, which took place on October 6, 1976, in San Francisco, focused primarily on national security and foreign policy issues. The Cyprus issue did not come up. Below Vance’s note, Carter initialed “C.”


3. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Office of the Secretariat Staff, Cyrus R. Vance, Secretary of State—1977–1980, Lot 84D241, Box 10, Memcons Vance Pre-Inaug. Limited Official Use. Drafted by Tarnoff on January 7, 1977.


4. Presidential Review Memorandum/NSC 5

Source: Carter Library, National Security Council, Institutional Files, Box 2, PRM/NSC 1–24 [1]. Confidential.


5. Minutes of a Policy Review Committee Meeting

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Country Chron File, Box 9, Cyprus: 1977. Secret. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. Attached but not printed are a February 11 covering memorandum from Dodson to Brzezinski and, at Tab A, an undated report titled “General Objectives of the Clifford Mission.”


6. Summary of Conclusions of a Policy Review Committee Meeting

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Country Chron File, Box 9, Cyprus: 1977. Secret; Sensitive. The meeting took place in the White House Situation Room. Carter wrote “ok” and initialed “C” at the top of the first page. For the minutes of this meeting, see Document 5.


7. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 34, Memcons: President: 2/77. Confidential. The meeting took place in the Oval Office.


8. Report by the President’s Personal Emissary to Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus (Clifford) to President Carter

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Brzezinski Office File, Country Chron File, Box 9, Cyprus: 1977. Secret. Clifford’s mission to the Eastern Mediterranean was from February 15 to March 1, which included a visit to London February 27–March 1. Clifford discussed the report with President Carter on March 4; see Document 10.


9. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Office of the Secretariat Staff, Cyrus R. Vance, Secretary of State—1977–1980, Lot 84D241, Box 10, Vance NODIS Memcons, 1977. Secret; Nodis. Drafted by Hopper on March 4; approved by Twaddell on March 16. The meeting took place in Vance’s office.


10. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 34, Memcons: President: 3/77. Confidential. The meeting took place in the Oval Office.


11. Action Memorandum From the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Lowenstein) to Secretary of State Vance

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Bureau of Congressional Relations, Subject Files and Chrons 1977/78/79/80, Files of Assistant Secretary J. Brian Atwood, Lot 81D115, Box 4, Greece/Turkey/Cyprus. Confidential. Drafted by Ledsky and Ewing on April 5; sent through Nimetz on April 6; cleared by Gerald Helman (IO/UNP), Atwood, and Richard Ericson (PM).


12. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to President Carter

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 26, Greece: 1/77–4/78. Confidential. Sent for action. Henze forwarded a draft with a memorandum to Brzezinski on April 15. Brzezinski initialed the memorandum and wrote, “I agree.” (Ibid.) Attached and printed as Document 92 is an April 15 memorandum from Vance to Carter calling for equal aid packages to Turkey and Greece. Attached but not printed is an April 18 covering memorandum from Brzezinski to Vance notifying Vance of Carter’s approval to restore foreign military sales for Turkey at $175 million.


13. Memorandum From Gregory F. Treverton of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 75, Turkey: 1–12/77. Secret.


14. Memorandum of Conference

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Office of the Secretariat Staff, Records of Counselor Nimetz, 1977–1980, Lot 81D85, Box 2, Eastern Mediterranean—1977. No classification marking. Drafted by Clifford. Tarnoff forwarded the memorandum to Vance on October 14, noting that Clifford wanted to be sure the Secretary saw it. (Ibid.)


15. Memorandum From Paul B. Henze of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Horn/Special, Box 1, Chron File: 10–11/77. Secret. Outside the System. Sent for information.


16. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 36, Memcons: President: 11–12/77. Secret; Sensitive. Drafted by Henze, who initialed the memorandum. The meeting took place in the Oval Office.


17. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Bureau of Congressional Relations, Subject Files and Chrons 1977/78/79/80, Files of Assistant Secretary J. Brian Atwood, Lot 81D115, Box 4, Greece/Turkey/Cyprus. Confidential; Exdis. Drafted by Atwood on December 14; cleared in draft by Nimetz and Vest. Copies were sent to Nimetz, Vest, Bennet, Ledsky, and Ewing. The meeting took place in Vance’s office.


18. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski) to President Carter

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 75, Turkey: 1–12/77. Secret. Sent for information. A stamped notation reads: “The President has seen.” The memorandum is attached as Tab A to a memorandum to Brzezinski from Henze. In a draft of the covering memorandum to Brzezinski of December 7, Henze noted that he had heard “casual suggestions” about dropping the Greek and Turkish DCAs, which he thought would be a “recipe for disaster.” (Ibid.) Brzezinski wrote above the first paragraph of his memorandum to Carter, “Response to your query.” Carter wrote at the top of the page: “Zbig, Assess [with] Fritz [Mondale] & Frank [Moore] best strategy for Congressional action—JC.” Hutcheson forwarded the memorandum to Mondale, Brzezinski, and Frank Moore on December 9. (Ibid.)


19. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P780045–2474. Confidential. Drafted by Vest; cleared by Bennet; approved by Anderson on February 1. The meeting took place on the eighth floor of the Department of State. Vance had met with Ecevit in Ankara January 20–21 and with Karamanlis in Athens January 21. See Documents 107 and 173.


20. Memorandum From Secretary of State Vance to President Carter

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Country File, Box 75, Turkey: 1–7/78. Secret. Carter wrote “Fritz [Mondale]—See me. J” at the top of the first page. No record of a follow-up meeting between Mondale and Carter was found. In a handwritten note to Carter, Brzezinski informed him that Brzezinski, Vance, and Brown had agreed upon the “sensitive memo” before him and that all of the options were politically “costly.” Brzezinski also recommended that Carter talk with Mondale prior to making a decision. (Ibid.)


21. Memorandum Prepared in the Central Intelligence Agency

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, Job 80T00634A, Box 3, unlabeled folder. Secret; [handling restriction not declassified]. A note on the first page reads: “This memorandum was prepared by the Western Europe Division of the Office of Regional and Political Analysis in coordination with the Office of Strategic Research and the Office of Economic Research. ‘Questions and comments may be addressed to [name not declassified].” A distribution list is attached but not printed.


22. Memorandum From the Counselor of the Department of State (Nimetz) to Secretary of State Vance and the Deputy Secretary of State (Christopher)

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Office of the Secretariat Staff, Records of Counselor Nimetz, 1977–1980, Lot 81D85, Box 2, Eastern Mediterranean—1978. Confidential. Drafted by Ewing; cleared by Vest and Anton DePorte (S/P).


23. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D780332–0151. Confidential. Sent for information to Adana, Ankara, Athens, Istanbul, Izmir, and Nicosia.


24. Intelligence Memorandum Prepared in the Central Intelligence Agency

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, Job 80T00634A, Box 13, unlabeled folder. Secret; [handling restriction not declassified]. A note on the first page reads: “This memorandum was prepared by the Office of Regional and Political Analysis. ‘Questions and comments may be addressed to [name not declassified].” It was distributed widely to officials in the National Security Council, the Department of State, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. The distribution page is attached but not printed.


25. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Congressional Affairs (Manatos) to the Counselor of the Department of State (Nimetz)

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Office of Southern Europe, Records of Counselor Nimetz, 1977–1980, Lot 83D256, Box 1, POL 2 Cyprus 1977 and 1978. Eyes Only. A notation at the top of the page, presumably written by Manatos, reads: “Some of the political information I touched on the other day. I thought you might be interested.”


26. Memorandum From Paul B. Henze of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Horn/Special, Box 3, Chron File: 4/79. Confidential. Sent for information. Copies were sent to Hunter, Larrabee, and Albright.


27. Memorandum From the Vice President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Clift) to Vice President Mondale

Source: Carter Library, Donated Material, Papers of Walter F. Mondale, Foreign Countries, Box 50, Foreign Countries—Greece/Turkey/Cyprus, 1979. Secret. Sent for information.


28. Report Prepared in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State

Source: National Archives, RG 59, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Office Subject Files 1965–1980, Lot 92D412, Box 3, Balkan Affairs 1979–80. Secret; Noforn; Nocontract; Orcon. Prepared by H. Jonathan Bemis (INR/SEE); approved by Martha Mautner (INR/RSE/FP).


29. Memorandum From Paul B. Henze of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Brzezinski)

Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Staff Material, Horn/Special, Box 5, Chron File: 8–9/80. Confidential. Copies were sent to Brement, Blackwill, Albright, and Griffith.


30. Intelligence Assessment Prepared in the Central Intelligence Agency

[Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, Job 82T00150R, Box 3, The Cyprus Conflict: Cultural and Psychological Factors. Secret; [handling restriction not declassified]. Two pages not declassified.]