767.68119/10–2445
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs (Henderson) to the Secretary of State
Attached are brief preliminary British comments76 on our Turkish Straits proposals. These comments refer solely to our suggestion that (he right of non-Black Sea warships to transit the Straits be restricted. The British feel (1) that their warships should be permitted freely to go into the Straits as far as Istanbul without restriction, and (2) that Bulgaria and Rumania should not be allowed to prevent non-Black Sea warships from entering the Black Sea.
As regards the first British suggestion, we feel that our proposals, which refer to the transit of warships through the Straits, are susceptible of interpretation along the lines the British desire. Our proposal that non-Black Sea warships be restricted as regards passage through the Straits would not prevent, in our view, the entry of ships into the Straits.
As regards the second British suggestion, we feel strongly that we should not concur. The fact that Bulgaria and Rumania are enemy states at present does not alter the fact that in the long view all Black Sea states, both large and small, have an equal interest in the security of that area.
- Not found attached to file copy.↩