767.68119/894: Telegram (part air)
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 16—6 p.m.]
117. Consulate’s 113, April 11, 5 p.m.12 Although I can find no definite basis for this belief, general feeling seen here that the matter of the demilitarized zone of the Straits will in some manner be brought before the May Council either by Turkey or by some other power.
Should this happen the course the matter would take is by no means clear. Although the representatives of the most interested powers here express opinions, the position of their states does not seem as yet in any way crystallized. The Secretariat view is that the Turkish notification is a salutary influence in international affairs in contrast to the recent series of unilateral denunciation of treaties and the hope is particularly expressed that it may presage action under article 19 of the Covenant which would bring the League usefully into play and increase its prestige. Among the representatives of the most interested powers, I find currents of view countenancing national political interests such as the favorable attitude toward the Turkish position on the part of the Balkan Entente running counter in the same field to their basic policy of anti-revisionism.
- Not printed.↩