767.68119/10–846: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Smith)
u.s. urgent niact
1785. Deliver following note to Fonoff immediately and notify Dept as soon as you have done so:97
“I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that my Govt has studied carefully the contents of the note of the Soviet Union to Turkey of Sep 24 relating to the regime of the Straits.
In pursuance of its policy of making clear to all interested parties its views on matters relating to the Straits, my Govt has instructed me to inform you that after examining the note referred to above it continues to adhere to the position outlined in its note of Aug 19, 1946 to the Soviet Govt.
It will be recalled that in the Protocol of the proceedings of the Potsdam Conference, signed by the U.S.S.R., Great Britain and the United States, the three Govts recognized that the Convention on the Straits concluded at Montreux should be revised as failing to meet present-day conditions. It was further agreed in the Protocol that as the next step the matter should be the subject of direct conversations between each of the three Govts and the Turkish Govt.
It has been the understanding of my Govt that the three Govts., in agreeing with one another that the regime of the Straits should be brought into accord with present-day conditions by means of a revision of the Montreux Convention, mutually recognized that all three signatories of the Protocol have an interest in the regime of the Straits and in any changes which might be made in that regime. My Govt furthermore informed the Soviet Govt in its note of Aug 19, that in its view the regime of the Straits is a matter of concern not only to the Black Sea powers but also to other powers, including the United States. The Soviet Govt, nevertheless, in its note of Sep 24, apparently continues to take the position set forth in its note of Aug 7 [Page 875] to Turkey that ‘the establishment of a regime of the Straits … should come under the competence of Turkey and the other Black Sea powers’. My Govt does not consider that it was contemplated at the Potsdam Conference that the direct conversations which might take place between any one of the three signatory govts and the Turkish Govt with regard to the regime of the Convention of the Straits concluded at Montreux should have the effect of prejudicing the participation of the other two signatory powers in the revision of the regime of the Straits. On the contrary, my Govt considers that the Potsdam Agreement definitely contemplated only an exchange of views with the Turkish Govt as a useful preliminary to a conference of all of the interested powers, including the United States, to consider the revision of the Montreux Convention. As stated in its note of Aug 19, my Govt stands ready to participate in such a conference.
My Govt also feels that it would be lacking in frankness if it should fail to point out again at this time, in the most friendly spirit, that in its opinion the Govt of Turkey should continue to be primarily responsible for the defense of the Straits and that should the Straits become the object of attack or threat of attack by an aggressor, the resulting situation would be a matter for action on the part of the Security Council of the United Nations.”
- The note was delivered to the Soviet Foreign Office on the morning of October 9 (767.68119/10–946).↩