867.24/288

The British Embassy to the Department of State

Aide-Mémoire

Recent experience has shown that the present system for dealing with the Turkish Government’s orders for raw materials and finished products is unsatisfactory and leads to duplication. In some instances the Turkish Ambassador in London has placed orders in the United Kingdom. In others the Turkish Ambassador in Washington has placed orders in the United States. There have been further cases in which British firms in Turkey have placed orders in London on behalf of the Turkish Government, and others again where Turkish Government departments have placed orders with British or American agents in Turkey. The result has been considerable overlapping, and much time has in some cases been lost.

2.
The British authorities feel that it is desirable that all Turkish demands for military and civilian supplies should be placed through one channel, and that if possible it would be best that the orders should in the first instance be received and examined by a competent authority in Turkey. They therefore suggest that all Turkish Government requirements, civilian and military, whether for supply from British or American sources, should be receivable only through the existing Coordinating Committee at Ankara, the Committee to be supplemented by the addition of United States representatives. The Ankara Committee would then pass on to London with their comments, favourable [Page 686] or unfavourable, all Turkish requirements formally submitted to them, quoting an appropriate reference number which would be given to the Turkish authorities for use in any further discussions of the requirements in question. Where possible requirements would of course continue to be satisfied from sources in the Middle East.
3.
Requirements received in London from the Coordinating Committee would be considered there, and items which could not be supplied from the United Kingdom would be passed on to Washington through appropriate machinery.
4.
The United States authorities would be kept informed through the British Joint Staff Mission of all Turkish requirements for military supplies, and through the British Supply Council of all civilian requirements: this would apply whether the requirements were supplied from British sources or not, and the comments of the Coordinating Committee and of the British Departments concerned would also be transmitted through the same channels.
5.
In the case of bulk foodstuffs and other commodities normally handled by the Middle East Supply Centre, the requirements would be referred in the first place from Ankara to that body, London and Washington being informed and when necessary consulted. In the case of air supplies of a strictly military nature, the requests would be forwarded in the first instance to the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, and thence to London.
6.
It would always be open to the Turkish Government to make representations in support of their requirements through the diplomatic channel, whether in London or in Washington.
7.
His Majesty’s Government hope that the United States Government will agree that the above proposals represent a valuable simplification of procedure, and will be in the best interests of the Turkish Government as well as in those of the United Nations as a whole. It is hoped therefore that the United States Government will agree to instruct the United States Ambassador in Ankara to join with his British colleague in recommending the acceptance of this procedure to the Turkish Government.