867.24/807: Telegram
The Ambassador in Turkey (Steinhardt) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:15 p.m.]
1560. In conversation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs this morning97 he informed me that the Turkish Government is prepared to sign the proposed master Lend-Lease agreement as submitted subject only to an exchange of notes, which he stated might remain unpublished, and which he proposes read substantially as follows: [Page 1109]
“Referring to the agreement arrived at between us at time of the signature affixed in the name of the Government of the Republic to the arrangement between the Government of the Republic of Turkey and the United States of America, relative to the principles of the assistance furnished under the Act of March 11, 1941, I have the honor to confirm to Your Excellency the interpretation of the acceptance given by the Government of the Republic to the said agreement. It is agreed between our two Governments that no obligation or furnishing of aid present or future arising under the agreement arrived at shall be demanded from Turkey nor shall there be any presumption of acceptance by Turkey of the principle of any such obligation or furnishing of aid unless a formal and direct agreement shall have been reached between Turkey and the Government of the United States of America in respect of each individual case or group of concrete cases.”
Numan98 stated that he had submitted the foregoing proposed draft of a note merely as an indication of the reservation which he desired to make and that the exact language of the note was of course open to discussion. In this connection he pointed out that the Turkish Government would be under the necessity of obtaining the ratification of the master Lend-Lease agreement by the Grand National Assembly. He doubted such ratification could be obtained unless he was in a position to explain confidentially to the party leaders that the Turkish Government had not committed itself to unknown obligations for an indeterminate period of time but that a reservation had been made under which any specific obligation or commitment of the Turkish Government would have to be the subject of separate agreement.
Numan added that the position of Turkey was entirely different from that of the belligerent powers which have signed master Lend-Lease agreements in that not being a belligerent the Turkish Government was not in a position to claim that use had been made of most of the Lend-Lease material received. He remarked that were Turkey a belligerent he would have no hesitancy in signing the proposed agreement without any reservation.