Editorial Note

In an informal action taken on February 4, 1949, the State–Army–Navy–Air Force Coordinating Committee (SANACC) concurred in the redefinition by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of United States long-range strategic interests in the military establishments of Greece and Turkey as a basis for planning on the extent and type of future United States military aid to Greece and Turkey. As set forth in their memorandum designated document SANACC 358/8, November 24, 1948 ( Foreign Relations, 1948, volume IV, page 191), the Joint Chiefs of Staff defined United States strategic interest in Turkey as follows:

“A Turkish military establishment of sufficient size and effectiveness to insure Turkey’s continued resistance to Soviet pressure; the development of combat effectiveness to the extent that any overt Soviet aggression can be delayed long enough to permit the commitment of U.S. and allied forces in Turkey in order to deny certain portions of Turkey to the USSR.”

The Committee’s action was recorded in document SANACC 358/9, February 4, 1949.