Memorandum from Acting Secretary of State Joseph Grew to President Harry S. Truman, Current Foreign Developments

TOP SECRET DECLASSIFIED E.O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or (E) Dept. of State letter, Aug. 10, 1972 By NLTHL NARS Date 62675 June 22, 1945 MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT Subject: Current Foreim Develomments Everything Normal, Says Soviet Ambessador in Ankara. Everything in Soviet-Turkish relations is normal, the Soviet Ambessador in Ankara replied to a question of Ambassador Wilson's. He said there had been no recent developments. To a query by the British Ambassador he made the aame reply. With reference to Turkish reports that Soviet forces on the Turkish frontier had been increased, the American military attache in Ankara states that reliable infor- mation on the subject is lacking. The Turkish general staff is informed without confirmation that considerable Russian forces already in this general area were moved closer to the border near Mount Ararat. Rotation of the Russian garrison in Iren, according to a normally re- liable source, may have increased the total of this force. Largely, it is reported, because of an increase of Russian forces in Bulgaria, rumors that Moscow will press Turkey for a series of concessions are again circulating in Sofia. These have to do with the Straits, the return to Russia of the Kars Region, the fortification of a point on the Straits and Russia's desire for a friendly political setup in Turkey. Poles s. RECORDS SERVICE to