763.72119/3266
The French Chargé ( Chambrun ) to the Acting Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary of State: My Government has just informed me that the representatives of the Allied Powers at Constantinople have suggested the following measures in carrying out Article 19 of the Armistice with Turkey:
- 1.
- The German and Austrian civilians numbering about 4,500 to be shipped to Trieste on German and Turkish vessels coaled by the English Navy;
- 2.
- The German and Austrian invalids to be shipped to Genoa on hospital ships at present under the Ukrainian flag, which would likewise be coaled by the English Navy;
- 3.
- The enemy soldiers (9,000 Germans and 1,500 Austrians) to be put on German vessels which would be summoned from Germany with [Page 279] enough German coal to effect the voyage both ways. Those vessels, placed under an Allied flag, would carry the German soldiers direct to their country.
The French Government, fully realizing the necessity of removing those dangerous and undesirable persons from Turkey, is ready to accede to the propositions so formulated by the Allied High Commissioners at Constantinople.
I should be very thankful to you if you would kindly let me know whether the Federal Government is inclined to concur therein.
Be pleased [etc.]