811.20 Defense (M)/410
Memorandum of Conversation, by Mr. George V. Allen of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs
| Participants: | Turkish Ambassador8 |
| Mr. Murray9 | |
| Mr. Allen |
The Turkish Ambassador, who had called at Mr. Murray’s request, was informed of the desire of the American Government to purchase approximately 100,000 tons of Turkish chrome now understood to be above ground in Turkey. He was told of our understanding from the British Embassy that Great Britain had taken title to this chrome but that Britain could not sell it to us without the consent of the Turkish Government. The Ambassador’s assistance was requested in connection with obtaining the consent of his Government to allow Great Britain to sell this chrome to the United States.
The Ambassador readily acquiesced to this request, saying that he would exercise his best endeavors with his Government in this respect. He said that our request appeared an entirely reasonable one to him considering the chrome matter alone, but that there were further strong considerations which made him particularly desirous of having his Government meet our wishes. He recalled his recent expression, following our exception in the tetraethyl lead case, of a desire to be able to reciprocate our friendly gesture and said that his Government’s acquiescence in the chrome matter would improve his position in future instances of this kind.