867.00/3132: Telegram
The Ambassador in Turkey ( Steinhardt ) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 1—9:02 a.m.]
234. Department’s 82, March 14, 10 p.m.50 The Secretary General asked me to call at the Foreign Office this morning. He told me the Soviet Ambassador had recently made a demand of the Turkish Government for permission to interview the two Soviet nationals under arrest for complicity in the bomb explosion and for their immediate release (my 225, March 2851). He added Ambassador had based his demand on instructions from his Government which apparently were result of information received from Government of United States.
Numan Bey then stated Vishinsky had told Turkish Ambassador in Kuibyshev Soviet Government was “absolutely persuaded attempt was made by the Gestapo” but that he was unable at the time to give him any further information. In a second conversation Ambassador reported Vishinsky as having made following statement “I told you this attempt was made by the Gestapo through group leader Wulff and Soviet Government’s information came from a positive source but I could not tell you the source. Now however I am authorized to tell you the source was United States Embassy in Kuibyshev and that Embassy received its information from its Government in Washington which in turn obtained it from positive sources.” Numan Bey added substantially the same statement had been made to him by Soviet Ambassador in Ankara on instructions from Kuibyshev. Numan Bey said that as the public trial was to commence tomorrow morning and as the Turkish Government was extremely desirous of bringing out all of the facts, his Government would appreciate it very much if the Government of the United States would furnish it with such evidence as it might have that the bomb explosion was of Gestapo origin. I replied that while I would of course at once transmit his request to the Department, I very much doubted that evidence or even information susceptible of legal proof could be furnished as it was hardly likely [Page 829] that evidence of this character was available. To this he replied that while he recognized that legal proof probably was not available he nonetheless felt obligated to make the request by reason of the fact that the Soviet Government was apparently resting its case on information received from the Government of the United States.
Although Numan Bey made no reference to the recent broadcast of the Boston Radio (my 223 of March 28, 1 p.m.52) charging Nazis with responsibility for the bomb explosion, I am inclined to the view that this broadcast coupled with the information furnished the Soviet Government has caused Turkish authorities to suspect that the United States is attempting to discredit the Turkish police investigation, its official communiqués, and the impending trial, by placing responsibility for the bomb explosion on the Gestapo.
Having regard to the use already made by Soviet authorities of the information furnished by the Department, it is not to be excluded that counsel for Soviet defendants may make reference thereto in the course of the public trial.
Repeated to Kuibyshev.