740.0011 European War 1939/13250
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Acting Secretary of State
The British Ambassador called to see me this morning at his request.
The Ambassador read to me a telegram he had received from his Foreign Office in which Mr. Eden informed Lord Halifax that he believed Turkey was remaining entirely loyal to Great Britain. As an indication of this, Mr. Eden stated that on July 9 the Turkish Chief of Staff had written a letter to the Aviation Attaché of the British Embassy at Ankara stating flatly that the Turkish Army did not trust Germany, with whom it had already had too many bitter experiences. The Turkish Chief of Staff expressed the hope that after the conflict with Russia Germany would be too exhausted to undertake any further expansionist activities for the time being but that he fully recognized [Page 883] the fact that if Germany were able quickly to crush Russia, Turkey would undoubtedly be the next victim.…