867.24/359: Telegram
The Ambassador in Turkey (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 5:49 p.m.]
751. During my first call on the new Prime Minister53 July 15, I was forcibly struck by his nervousness and preoccupation which stood out in sharp contrast with his normally serene and jovial disposition. Later in the day my British colleague54 who had seen him half an hour before I did inquired of me as to whether I had gained same impression he had that Saraçoğlu was clearly laboring under a great strain. He said Saraçoğlu had seemed so worried he had decided not to discuss with him some of the matters he had gone to see him about. Hugessen also told me late the night before Saraçoğlu had called him on the phone and had made an urgent plea for the immediate shipment of wheat to Turkey.
This morning President of Office of Soil Products requested Kelley55 to call on him ostensibly to discuss pending negotiations for purchase of opium by the United States.56 After disposing of opium matter he said that in view of serious wheat situation confronting Turkey, he requested that the United States allocate the maximum tonnage available to the shipment of wheat to Turkey. He went on to say that need for wheat was so urgent that new Cabinet had decided to give priority to shipments of wheat from the United States over everything else without exception including all military supplies and that he was authorized to communicate this decision to the Embassy so that it could inform the American Government to this effect. He added that this decision reflected an abrupt traversal of the position of the old Cabinet.
I am inclined to the view that immediately after assuming office as Prime Minister, Saraçoğlu discovered that the stocks of wheat on hand are materially less than the former Cabinet had been led to believe and that in addition preliminary reports on the new crop are worse than anticipated. Saraçoğlu’s telephone call late at night to Hugessen and his nervousness and preoccupation during the visits of both Hugessen and myself the following day are to my mind clearly indicative that the new Cabinet has discovered that the wheat situation in Turkey is extremely grave. The fact that the new Cabinet succeeded without delay in obtaining the consent of Marshal [Page 728] Cakmak57 and the General Staff to giving priority to the immediate shipment of wheat over all military supplies supports this view. From other remarks made by the President of the Office of Soil Products to Kelley, it would appear that there is not enough wheat to maintain the army this summer.
As it is clearly in our interest to strengthen the position of Turkey at this critical time and also clearly in our interest to support the Saraçoğlu Cabinet which is most friendly disposed towards the United States and Great Britain, I urgently recommend that immediate steps be taken to meet the desires of the Turkish Government by shipping wheat instead of war material or other supplies.
- Sükrü Saraçoğlu, formerly Minister for Foreign Affairs, who had succeeded as Prime Minister on July 9, following the death of Prime Minister Saydam.↩
- Sir Hughe M. Knatchbull-Hugessen.↩
- Robert F. Kelley, Counselor of Embassy.↩
- For correspondence on this subject, see pp. 708 ff.↩
- Chief of Turkish General Staff.↩