Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

MLT(NovelAAd.)95 the OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON August 25, 1950 is E C RE SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS GREECE-TURKEY - A British Foreign Office official, commenting to Embassy London on Turkey's request for inclusion in the North Atlantic Treaty organization, has stated that Bevin gave the Turkish Ambassador Tho encouragement" on the subject and said he would defer further discussion until the Foreign Ministers' meeting in September. The British Foreign Office believes that Turkey is motivated by a desire to obtain additional arms through the pact and to deter an attack on Turkey by the USSR; however, the British defense establishment would prefer to postpone Turkey's admittance at least until British military resources are less thin and the "British cup- board is less bare. 11 Our Embassy comments that the British prefer to wait for an expression of US views before they give any further indi- cation of their own opinions. Discussing the admission of Greece as well as Turkey to the Pact, our Embassy in Athens comments that from point of view of military forces in being Greece and Turkey would be mili- tary assets rather than liabilities, at least in the short term. Our Embassy also believes that the strategic position of Greece and Turkey warrants their inclusion in the Treaty organization. However, it adds that should it as a consequence of admission to the Pact become public knowledge in Greece that the western powers do not plan to commit substantial forces to the defense of that area, there would be great and perhaps dangerous weakening of the popular support for Greece's pro-western alignment. In these circumstances, our Embassy sug- gests that we consider as alternatives: 1) a withdrawal of our previous DECLASSIFIED E.O. 12065, Sec. 3-402 State Dept. Guidelines, March 6, 1982 By DEB NLT, Date 6-7-85