867.24/211
The British Embassy to the Department of State
Aide-Mémoire
His Majesty’s Government have given most careful consideration to the suggestion made by the State Department some weeks ago that materials furnished to Turkey from the United States under the Lease-Lend Act should be supplied by the United States Government direct to the Turkish Government rather than through the intermediary of the British authorities, as is at present the case. The British authorities are fully alive to the strength of the arguments advanced by the State Department in support of this proposal and appreciate the advantages which might accrue from the political point of view were the United States Government to supply these materials direct to the Turkish Government. After full consideration of all the factors involved, however, the British Government have come to the conclusion that it would be greatly preferable to maintain the existing procedure whereby materials for Turkey are supplied through the intermediary of the appropriate British authorities.
[Page 912]It seems inevitable that the Middle East must be regarded as a strategic whole, and that in considering the question of what armaments should be made available to Turkey this whole picture should be taken into account. Nor can British commitments in other parts of the world be ignored. The effect on these commitments of any decision to supply materials to Turkey must also be borne in mind. In the view of His Majesty’s Government it is imperative to make the best and most economical use of the resources of war material, at present severely restricted, which are available in non-axis countries. That can only be done on the basis of strategical considerations which, as regards the area where British interests are closely involved, are more easily appreciated in London.
Further, the British Government are under an obligation under their treaty arrangements with Turkey to supply the latter with armaments, some of which are now being obtained by the British authorities from the United States. It is not possible for practical reasons for the British authorities to consider the full details of the requirements which the Turkish Government present to them unless they can themselves decide whether certain particular items are to be provided from the United Kingdom or from the United States.
For the foregoing reasons the British Government are therefore most anxious to see the existing procedure maintained.
As a result of informal conversations which have been taking place between the British Embassy, the British Supply Council and the State Department, the Supply Council have been in communication with London on the general question of supplies from the United States of America to Turkey. It is appreciated that most supplies for Turkey under the Lend-Lease Act (as distinct from items which Turkey is able to produce with her own dollar resources) must under present conditions come out of allocations made in the first instance to the United Kingdom on behalf of the British Empire and the Allied Governments within the area where British interests are involved. This results partly from the supply position in the United States, but principally from the policy of His Majesty’s Government in favouring Lend-Lease supplies to Turkey through the United Kingdom as intermediary rather than direct or separately for Turkey out of Lend-Lease appropriation.
It has been agreed by His Majesty’s Government that Turkey should receive from them monthly or quarterly allocations out of deliveries coming forward to them, so far as supplies permit. For instance, 100 trucks have been allocated to Turkey for October and other allocations will be made as the cases arise.
[Page 913]It will be appreciated, however, that in the absence of firm forecasts of transfers to the British pool out of Lend-Lease appropriations and in view of the inevitable short term changes that occur both in these forecasts and in the developments of the war, it is virtually impossible to allocate Lend-Lease supplies far ahead if such distribution is to be useful and economical.
There are, however, a number of Turkish requirements already notified to the British Supply Council which clearly cannot be supplied at present. This is due in part to the natural difficulty experienced by the United States procurement agencies in finding capacity for alien types of equipment without hindrance to their own supplies, and in part to the fact that deliveries under Lend-Lease from which diversions to Turkey could be made have so far been small in quantity. His Majesty’s Government propose to explain frankly to the Turkish Government which are these items, and to advise as to the items which show earlier possibility of delivery. The British Supply Council expect a further communication from London on this subject.