701.6711/103½
The Counselor for the Department of State ( Lansing ) to the Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Secretary: I have read the Turkish Ambassadors note of the 12th instant containing a statement as to his recent published interview.
The statement is, in my opinion, so arrogant in tone as to be extremely offensive; and the Ambassador has by implication criticised the Government in its permitting the sale of cruisers to Greece and in sending a warship to Turkish waters for the purpose, as he is pleased to term it, of a “naval demonstration.”
Furthermore, the Ambassador frankly admits that his conduct may be considered undiplomatic, and seeks to justify it by asserting that the occasion was one which made it “not only pardonable but legitimate to depart from conventionalities.”
I do not think that it would comport with the dignity of this Government, after the public utterances of the Ambassador and his statement, which aggravates the situation, to permit him to represent longer Turkey at this capital. His usefulness here has ended and he [is] unquestionably persona non grata.
Very sincerely yours,