Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XVI, Cyprus; Greece; Turkey

76. Memorandum of Conversation¹

New York, June 26, 1964.

SUBJECT

• Cyprus

PARTICIPANTS

• U Thant, Secretary General of the UN
• Mr. Tuomioja, UN Mediator
• George W. Ball, Under Secretary of State
• Adlai E. Stevenson, U.S. Representative to the UN
• Charles W. Yost, U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN
• Phillips Talbot, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East and South Asian Affairs
• Harlan Cleveland, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs

I.

In morning session with the UN Mediator Tuomioja, Under Secretary Ball and Ambassador Stevenson (with Ambassador Yost, Assistant Secretary Talbot and Assistant Secretary Cleveland) outlined upshot of Washington conversations with Prime Minister Inonu and Papandreou, and asked whether Mr. Tuomioja would be prepared to ask Greek and Turkish Governments to appoint representatives to assist him, ask the United States to provide someone to help, and arrange private Greek-Turkish talks as part of the UN mediation framework.

Mr. Tuomioja said he personally considered this “a practical approach”, but as “UN man”, he had to consider following angles and discuss them with the Secretary General:

(a) He saw no difficulty in his asking Greek and Turkish Governments provide representatives to assist him in finding a permanent solution.

(b) He thought something would have to be done to cut the Cypriots in. He was clear they should not be in the Greek-Turkish meetings as such, but should perhaps be available somewhere nearby so that Mr. Tuomioja could keep in consultation with the Government of Cyprus. Mr. Tuomioja made clear he regarded this as window dressing at this stage.

(c) He did not like Camp David as a site, preferring somewhere in Switzerland. Recognizing that Geneva is quite accessible to daily contact with the press, he mentioned Lausanne or Evian as possibilities.

(d) He found most difficulty with his designating an American to help him or asking the United States Government to do so. He clearly thought this would produce considerable political heat from the Russians, Cypriots and others, and wanted to consider with the Secretary General how much of this kind of heat the United Nations could properly take.

On the substance of the solution, he said in his opinion “only basis is enosis”, with whatever compensation is necessary to make it palatable to the Turks. But he also commented that the “Makarios solution”, which he defined as unrestricted independence leading rapidly to enosis, would not be so bad.

He was not surprised to learn that the Turks were relatively easy to deal with in Washington, while the Greeks were making difficulties. The Turks are in “very weak” position, unless they play their ultimate card. The Greeks naturally believe that the United States will prevent the Turks playing that card; counting on the United States, therefore the Greeks feel that they “have it their own way.”

II.

A meeting of the same Americans with the Secretary General (also Bunche and Rolz-Bennett) followed:

The Under Secretary opened with a summary of the events since February as the United States sees them, stressing the Turkish threats, and Turkish “bitterness and frustration” when dissuaded from action by the United States. The United States had decided we could help best by having the Greeks and Turks get together with Mr. Dean Acheson at a private retreat such as Camp David.

The Turks had agreed, but the Greeks evidently found difficulties with this proposition. Papandreou had made strong domestic commitments that he would not talk with the Turks under US pressure; and the Greeks anyway think time is on their side. Mr. Ball said the United States had made clear we would not fight an ally (“You couldn’t sink Turkish ships,” commented U Thant); the Under Secretary added that our influence in Ankara might prove a wasting asset.

At the end of the Papandreou discussions in Washington, Mr. Ball said, the Greeks agreed that they would do anything the Mediator asks them to do, including designating representatives or even meeting jointly with Mr. Acheson if the Mediator requests it. Mr. Ball then reported on our conversation with Tuomioja. The Secretary General said Tuomioja had also meanwhile reported to him.

The points the Secretary General made in reply were these:

(a) The UN Mediator is competent to adopt whatever procedures he wishes, but asked the Secretary General for political advice on US suggestions.

(b) The Secretary General and Tuomioja have agreed that it would be useful to ask Greek and Turkish Governments to provide representatives to assist in finding a permanent solution.

(c) The resulting discussions should probably be in Geneva rather than in the United States.

(d) The Secretary General thought that any formula for designating Mr. Acheson as counsel to the UN Mediator would create difficulties under the Security Council Resolution of March 4th.

(e) The Secretary General’s counterproposal was that Tuomioja would invite the Turks and the Greeks to designate representatives to meet with him in or near Geneva, on the understanding that Tuomioja was also free to consult with a representative of the United States (Dean Acheson). Mr. Acheson could be close by and in frequent touch with the Mediator as conversations proceeded.

The Under Secretary said in his judgment the contribution of the United States would not be worth anything on this basis, and a lengthy discussion followed.

The Secretary General made clear that he did believe “the United States is in the best position to contribute to a peaceful solution of this problem” and that it would be useful for the United States to be constructively related to the mediation process. But he was sure that if the United Nations served as cover for United States participation, it would make great difficulties for the Secretary General under the Security Council Resolution. His point was that the Security Council Resolution provides for appointment of a Mediator with the consent of all four governments concerned (Turkey, Greece, the United Kingdom and Cyprus). If Cyprus, or any of the others decided that the Mediator was operating in an unsatisfactory manner, and so declared to the Secretary General, U Thant said he would have no alternative but to terminate Tuomioja’s services and get another mediator.

The Secretary General also argued that the presence of Acheson as a UN representative would increase likelihood Cypriots would want to be represented too and he predicted the Soviets would ask for a Security Council meeting to complain of manner in which the Secretary General was discharging his responsibility under March 4 Resolution. Some political risk was acceptable, but as Ralph Bunche put it, the risk was too high if the Mediator provided cover for a US operation. “Perhaps the mediator is expendable but the Secretary General is not.”

In the course of this discussion, the Secretary General and Mr. Bunche came around to a somewhat more flexible proposal, under which Mr. Acheson, operating not as UN counsel but as a representative of the United States Government, would meet not only with Tuomioja but also with the Greeks and Turks, together or separately as seemed most useful. But such meetings would have to be worked out on spot with the Greeks and the Turks rather than taking place under the UN Mediator’s direct sponsorship.

The Secretary General seemed not to share fully our sense of urgency in a quick solution, though Ralph Bunche commented at one point that the United Nations Force in Cyprus is in an increasingly untenable position, with the continuing inflow of arms and growing bitterness between the two ethnic groups.

In the course of discussions, the Under Secretary mentioned that the Mediator had made known to the Turks his personal view that a likely permanent solution was enosis with Greece. This was clearly news to both the Secretary General and Bunche, who said this had not been included in any report by the Mediator; they could fully understand the dangerous effect of such comments by a UN Mediator on sensitive Turkish nerves. The Under Secretary made clear that the United States has no position on an ultimate solution, but doubted that any straight enosis recommendation by the Mediator was a useful starting-point for the substantive discussions.

III.

After luncheon for Prime Minister Papandreou, the Secretary General informed Ambassador Yost of the substance of his conversation with the Prime Minister before lunch, as follows:

Papandreou had said he is entirely willing, if the UN Mediator so requests, to designate a Representative to meet with a Turkish Representative and with Tuomioja at any time. If meeting is to take place in New York, the Prime Minister would designate the Greek Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Bitsios. The Secretary General replied that Tuomioja would be making his headquarters for the time being in Geneva and the meetings could be held there.

When the Secretary General raised question of the presence of a United States Representative at these meetings, Prime Minister Papandreou replied he would not wish a US Representative to be formally designated by Mr. Tuomioja as advisor or counsel or to take part in meetings of Greeks and Turks chaired by Mr. Tuomioja. When the Secretary General proposed, however, that Mr. Dean Acheson as US Representative might be available in Geneva, “even in next room or in next building”, to meet separately with mediator, and with Greek and Turkish Representatives, in order assist in search for settlement, Prime Minister Papandreou replied that this would be entirely agreeable to him.

The Secretary General commented that this seemed to him a reasonable arrangement which should take account of our views and needs without risking the kinds of difficulties which he had outlined to us this morning. He added that Prime Minister Papandreou and Mr. Tuomioja were at that moment discussing details of the proposed arrangement.

Subsequently, Ambassador Yost called Mr. Tuomioja who said he had reached agreement with Prime Minister Papandreou along the lines the Secretary General had described, and would be addressing to the United States about July 6 an invitation to send a representative to Geneva to be available for consultation. He has in mind himself proceeding to Geneva from Cyprus July 4, and opening the meeting with Greeks and Turks early the following week. He would keep closely in touch with Mr. Acheson, and believed the Greeks and the Turks would do likewise.

He said he plans to hold conversations with the Greeks and the Turks at UN headquarters in Geneva (the Palais des Nations) but that meetings with Mr. Acheson might take place wherever convenient to all concerned. He was confident of his ability to carry on negotiations without undue press interference and did not contemplate any announcement to the press of the proposed Greek-Turkish talks until they actually begin. He did not intend before July 6 to address formal invitation to Greeks and Turks to meet with him.

Ambassador Yost emphasized the importance of extending an invitation to the Turks promptly so that they would know that the desired negotiations are about to commence and would hence be more likely to refrain from any hazardous action. Mr. Tuomioja saw the point and said that, after consultation with his UN colleagues, he would either address formal invitations to the Greeks and the Turks right away, or else would issue statement to the press announcing that he intends to extend such an invitation.

Comment: It is clear that the Secretary General cannot be pushed to provide United Nations sponsorship for mediation between the Greeks and the Turks essentially conducted by the United States. However, we must apply a sufficient proportion of US persuasion to a mediation process set up by the UN Mediator. Sine qua non is therefore that we make sure that all parties concerned at this stage (Greeks, Turks, SYG and Tuomioja) understand need for, and welcome, day-to-day discussions with US representative at or near the scene of mediation talks.

1. Source: Department of State, Ball Papers: Lot 74 D 272, Memcons Other Than Visits. Secret; Exdis-TUG. Drafted by Cleveland and Yost and approved in U on June 29.