Office of the Historian

711.672 (1929)/17: Telegram

The Ambassador in Turkey (Grew) to the Secretary of State

Angora, September 24, 1929—midnight.
[Received September 25—4:30 a.m.]

6. Department’s 48, September 21, 11 a.m. All of the Department’s proposals respecting articles 1, 2, 4 and 5 are accepted in their entirety by the Turkish delegation.

  • Article 3, paragraph (b), subheading 2: If the text proposed by the Department is to be substituted for the text proposed by the Turks they insist upon amplifying the word “bounties” by the phrase “and other advantages”. As the word “advantages” has been used in other American treaties in this connection, I trust that the Department will find no objection to meeting the Turkish contention.
  • Article 3, paragraph (c): It is clear that the Turkish delegation will not agree to accord both national and most-favored-nation treatment on the same issues. They argue that to assume that national treatment of the Turkish flag in matters respecting navigation could ever be less favorable than most-favored-nation treatment would tend to place Turkey in the same category with those Oriental countries where capitulations still exist. They maintain that western countries can afford to agree to such a provision but that Turkey cannot do so. The president [Page 833] of the Turkish delegation claims that our English translation of the Turkish proposal, which translation was approved by one of his technical assistants, Subnizia Bey, was incorrect and should have read: “All other exceptions outside of those enumerated above shall be subject to most-favored-nation treatment.” He now proposes either the cancellation of paragraph (c) or the adoption of the phraseology next above provided in either case that we accept the inclusion of the word “advantages” in paragraph (b) subheading 2. If neither of these proposals is satisfactory to the Department I can only suggest that we endeavor to obtain either in a protocol or in a procès-verbal the provision that where national treatment is mentioned in the treaty this implies most-favored-nation treatment because the intention of both parties is obviously that national treatment in both countries is at least equal to or superior to most-favored-nation treatment. Incidentally I have persuaded the Turkish delegation to drop the title “His Excellency” in the preamble.

If the Department is able to accept the views of the Turkish delegation set forth above, the treaty can be signed within a very few days as I have arranged with Allen and Heck to come at any moment to check the Turkish text.

Grew