File No. 711.673/33.
The Secretary of State to the Turkish Ambassador.
Washington , September 16, 1914 .
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your note of the 10th instant in which you inform me that by Imperial Irade the Ottoman Government has abrogated as from the 1st of October next the conventions known as the Capitulations. In reply I have the honor to state that the Government of the United States does not acquiesce in the endeavor of the Imperial Government to set aside the Capitulations, and does not recognize that the Ottoman Government has a right so to do, or that its action to this end, being unilateral, can have any effect upon the rights and privileges enjoyed by American citizens under the Capitulatory Conventions. The Government of the United States reserves for the present the discussion of the grounds upon which its refusal to acquiesce in the action of the Ottoman Government is based, and reserves the right to make further representations in this matter at a later date.
I have the honor to inclose for your information a paraphrase of a telegram on this subject sent today to the American Ambassador at Constantinople.
Accept [etc.].