611.6731/109

The Ambassador in Turkey ( Grew ) to the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs ( Shaw )

Dear Mr. Shaw: Replying to your letter of May 22 concerning the various exchanges of notes governing the relations between the United States and Turkey, I may answer in the affirmative the question contained in the last paragraph of your letter. When the Minister for Foreign Affairs said to me on April 19 that “as our relations were already established firmly, there was no need of re-establishing them”, I have no doubt that he had clearly in mind the provisions of paragraph 3 of the first of the two notes exchanged on February 17, 1927. My impression, received from all my talks with Ismet Pasha36 and Tewfik Rushdi Bey, is that the Turkish Government desires to preserve normal relations with the United States fully as much as we desire those relations with Turkey and that they intend to place no unnecessary obstacles in the way of the continuation of these relations. I do not therefore, for a moment, believe that the Turks will bring into question the validity of paragraph 3 and I agree with you that the matter need not be brought up except in the face of a specific act contrary to the provisions of that paragraph.

Faithfully yours,

Joseph C. Grew
  1. Turkish Prime Minister.