867.24/164
Memorandum by the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State (Edminster) to the Secretary of State
Mr. Secretary: The Division of Near Eastern Affairs has kept in close touch with me in connection with the lend-lease phases of this problem. In that connection I desire to call your attention to one important point which is apparently not properly understood in the Department.
The point is this: that putting Turkey on a parity with the American [Page 891] Republics from the standpoint of priorities and export licenses sounds like far more favorable treatment than it is. The American Republics, although eligible for lend-lease aid and able to secure priorities for a limited list of military supplies, nevertheless, on an overall view, come far down on the priority list as compared with countries actually resisting aggression. Under the “Latin-American parity” formula, some things can be and are being supplied to Turkey; but in amount and variety they are significant more as tokens than as vital contributions to Turkish defense.
It is my understanding that both the British Ambassador and Ambassador MacMurray have presented urgent reasons, in the light of the latest turn of events in the Near East and in Russia, for our disregarding the recent Turko-German Pact and giving all-out aid to Turkey, in so far as such aid is feasible. Without pretending to pass upon the merits of the case for all-out aid to the Turks, I simply want to make it clear that the present formula of treating Turkey on a parity with South America means, in practice, treatment far less favorable than we might wish to accord to Turkey if the considerations advanced by the British and by MacMurray are accepted at anything like their face value.