867.24/180: Telegram

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

352. While awaiting reply to recommendation contained in my 345, September 18, I chanced to be brought into contact with Rauf Bey35 and was tempted to avail myself of particularly friendly relationship to outrun my instructions to extent of stating to him as occasion for serious apprehensions on my part views which in that telegram I suggested that you convey to Turkish Ambassador. He was particularly struck with statement that Foreign Office had repeatedly given assurances that Turkey would give no chrome to Germany and emphatically stated they can’t go back on their word: “they won’t give any”. He has since called on me to say that while he does not feel in a position to take initiative in matter with President, he will nevertheless exert himself to bring to attention of others in appropriate quarters our viewpoint with which he is in accord.

2. Having since received your 162, September 20, I called this morning on Foreign Minister,36 recalled to him our joint interest with British and assurance given me July 10 (my 247) by Numan Bey, said that giving chrome in any quantity whatsoever to Germany raised questions which my Government now had under serious consideration and that under instructions, I was asking him to postpone decision until it should have communicated its views. He stated he had not yet committed himself and no decision had in fact been reached but then went on to take line that Turkey was contractually obligated to sell to France a portion of its chrome output and asked if I thought he could honorably go back on that engagement if French called for its fulfillment. I recalled that contract had been made with British and French as Turkey’s allies for purpose of preventing any chrome going to Germany and that to live up to letter of it under present circumstances would be to defeat its very purpose. He then spoke of [Page 951] Turkey’s precarious international situation and necessity for modernizing her forces and not neglecting opportunity to obtain from Germany at cost of insignificant quantity of chrome certain arms which are desperately needed; and he expressed almost resentfully his surprise that our Government should so far disregard necessities of this helpless country as to interpose in matter with what he described as in effect an ultimatum. I said that not only I myself but my Government were fully conscious of Turkish necessities and in fact doing everything possible to meet them but that we could not ignore conditions of American legislation and American opinion which would enable us to continue such assistance. He protested that this viewpoint was extremely egoistic; and while admitting that Germans wanted this chrome as a symbol rather than for its actual utility to them, he asked why we had for our part seen fit to adopt chrome as a touchstone of our whole attitude towards Turkey. I said that Turks had themselves made a special case of chrome as distinguished from all other products including minerals by having in first place signed contract for sale of their whole output to their allies and by having repeatedly declared and given specific assurances both to my British colleague and to me that they would under no circumstances let any of it go to Germany. He said sharply that Turkey had no contractual obligation to us in this matter. I conceded that but reminded him that Numan had nevertheless given me in response to a formal request an assurance on behalf of his Government. He made no reply other than to ask me to repeat while he took down in writing representations I had made. I said that I would instead send him a note embodying their purport. Shortly afterwards Numan telephoned to Kelley37 suggesting that this document should take form of unofficial and informal memorandum rather than of official note.

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4. Your 164, September 21, has just been decoded.

Repeated to London.

MacMurray
  1. Former Turkish Prime Minister and intimate personal adviser of President Ismet Inönü.
  2. Sükrü Saraçoglu.
  3. Robert F. Kelley, Counselor of Embassy.