Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, European Security and the German Question, Volume III, Part 1

CFM files, lot M–88, box 158, WFM tripartite documents

United States Proposed Draft Procedure for Accession of Greece and Turkey to NATO ¹

secret
Tripartite D–4

Washington, September 13, 1951.

At the Ottawa meeting of the North Atlantic Council the United States will propose that Greece and Turkey be invited to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty. The United States will at that time be prepared to advance reasons why it believes that membership of these countries is the most practicable and desirable means of associating them with the North Atlantic Treaty defense system. The North Atlantic Treaty countries are already familiar with many of the considerations which make it desirable to associate Greece and Turkey more intimately with the western Defense System and the Council of Deputies have in fact passed these along to the Council in the form of a Working Group report. There has, however, been little or no consultation on the precise steps which would actually be required to effect the accession of Greece and Turkey to the North Atlantic Treaty.

When the North Atlantic Treaty itself was in the process of ratification, some of the signatories advised their respective legislatures that if, pursuant to Article 10, the Parties decided to invite any other European state to accede to the Treaty they would, before agreeing to such an invitation, seek the consent of their respective legislatures. The United States Government so advised the United States Senate. The Department of State understands that some of the other Parties who did not so advise their legislatures may now consider it preferable to obtain the consent of the legislative branch in advance of final action to invite new members. There is, therefore, a need on the part of most of the North Atlantic Treaty countries to obtain the consent of their respective legislatures before a definitive invitation can be issued to Greece and Turkey to accede. On the other hand, if it is agreed that these two countries should be invited, the action of the Council in inviting them should obviously reflect as clearly as possible the intent of the parties that Greece and Turkey should be enabled to become full members as soon as the requisite constitutional procedures have been complied with.

The Parties to the Treaty defined in Article 6 the territory be covered for purposes of Article 5 which relates to their obligations in the event of an armed attack on one or more of them. Should Turkey, pursuant to Article 10 of the Treaty, be invited to accede thereto, a question would arise as to the obligations of the Parties in the event of an event of an attack upon that portion of Turkey which lies outside of Europe. An attack upon this portion of Turkey would be as likely to lead to serious consequences as an attack upon the European area of Turkey, and yet it would be outside the area presently defined by Article 6. Furthermore, so long as this area is not within the area specifically covered by the Treaty, an aggressor would be in some doubt as to the consequences of an act of aggression directed against the area and, to that extent, the intent of the Treaty to deter aggression would be vitiated. Finally, if the Parties desire Turkey to assume the obligations towards them of Article 5, it is clearly necessary that they on their part recognize that the entire area of Turkey is covered for the purposes of this Article. An amendment of Article 6 is therefore required and this in turn must, in the case of most North Atlantic Treaty countries, be placed before their respective legislatures for ratification.

From the foregoing paragraphs, it will be apparent that the participation of parliaments will be required (1) to permit a definitive invitation to Greece and Turkey and (2) to amend the Treaty to cover the territory of Turkey in the event it wishes to accept the invitation. It would obviously be desirable to obtain legislative approval on these two separate matters by a single reference to the parliaments. Similarly, the procedure devised should be such as to make the amendment to Article 6 effective only at the time when the Government of Turkey, by depositing its instrument of accession pursuant to Article 10, becomes a Party to the Treaty.

The Government of the United States believes that, in the event the Council decides that the Parties should invite Greece and Turkey to accede, the necessary formalities can best be complied with by adoption by the Council of a Resolution which would recommend to the Governments that Greece and Turkey should be invited to accede and that effective upon the accession of Turkey, Article 6 of the Treaty would be appropriately amended. It further believes that these purposes could best be accomplished by bringing into force a Protocol annexed to the Resolution which would be signed by duly accredited plenipotentiaries as soon as possible following the adoption by the Council of the Resolution. It would for its part submit the Protocol for the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification.

It may be noted that the proposed amendment to Article VI, in addition to including the territory of Turkey, would accomplish the two additional purposes of including the Islands of the Mediterranean (notably Cyprus)² which belong to the Parties and were not hitherto specifically included in the Treaty area and deleting the adjective “occupation” in anticipation of the time when the forces of the Parties in Germany will no longer be occupation forces. This change is necessary to assure the substantial retention of Germany in the area to be covered by the Treaty.

Steps to Accomplish the Accession of Greece and Turkey to NATO

(1) Adoption at Ottawa Council Meeting of the draft resolution to which proposed Protocol is annexed.

(2) Signature of the Protocol. If it is possible for the Foreign Ministers to procure full powers from their governments after the adoption of the resolution, the Protocol could be signed before the conclusion of the Ottawa Meeting. Another alternative would be to have the Council recommend that the Deputies be empowered to sign the Protocol at the earliest possible date. Still a third possibility would be to have the ambassadors, when duly authorized, sign it in Washington.

(3) Greece–Turkey to be advised of decision at Ottawa by Chairman of Atlantic Council and requested to indicate whether or not they wish to accede.

(4) Notification by all Parties to US of their definitive agreement to invite Greece and Turkey, and notification by US to all Parties when notifications of all of them have been received.

(5) Note sent by US to Greece and Turkey inviting them to deposit their instruments of accession.

(6) Deposit of instruments of accession by Greece and Turkey, at which time they become Parties, and upon deposit by Turkey the Article VI revision becomes effective.

Annex I

United States Draft Resolution on the Accession of Greece and Turkey to the North Atlantic Treaty

secret

[Washington, September 13, 1951?]

The Council

Having considered the proposal put forward for the accession of the Kingdom of Greece and the Turkish Republic to the North Atlantic Treaty,

Satisfied that the purposes of the North Atlantic Treaty will be served and the security of the North Atlantic area enhanced by the accession of Greece and Turkey to the North Atlantic Treaty,

Having examined the question of amendments which might be desirable in the provisions of the North Atlantic Treaty,

Recommends to the Governments which are parties to the Treaty,

That, pursuant to Article 10 of the Treaty, the Parties agree to invite the Kingdom of Greece and the Republic of Turkey to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty, and so notify the Government of the United States of America, the depository under the Treaty of instruments of accession,

That, pursuant to Article 10, Greece and Turkey shall become Parties to the Treaty upon date of the deposit of their respective instruments of accession with the Government of the United States of America,

That, effective upon the deposit with the Government of the United States of America by the Government of the Turkish Republic of its instrument of accession, the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty agree to the modification of Article 6 of the Treaty so that it will then read as follows:

“For the purpose of Article 5 an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack on the territory, forces, vessels, or air craft of any of the Parties in Europe, North America, the Algerian Departments of France, Turkey, or in the Mediterranean, or North Atlantic Ocean north of the Tropic of Cancer.”

Agrees

That these purposes would be achieved and the requirements of Article 10 of the Treaty would be met by bringing into force a Protocol as annexed hereto.

Recommends

That the Parties to the Treaty notify the Government of the United States of America that they are prepared to enter into such a Protocol and that the Protocol be prepared, in English and French texts, for signature at ______ as soon as possible.

Annex II

United States Draft Protocol to the North Atlantic Treaty

secret

[Washington, September 13, 1951?]

The Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty, signed at Washington on April 4, 1949,

Being satisfied that the purposes of the North Atlantic Treaty will be served and the security of the North Atlantic area enhanced by the accession of the Kingdom of Greece and the Turkish Republic to that Treaty,

Agree as follows:

Article 1

Upon the entry into force of this Protocol, the Government of the United States of America shall, on behalf of all the Parties, communicate to the Government of the Kingdom of Greece and the Government of the Turkish Republic an invitation to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty, as modified by Article 2 of the present Protocol. Thereafter the Kingdom of Greece and the Turkish Republic shall each become a Party on the date when each deposits its respective instrument of accession with the Government of the United States of America in accordance with Article 10 of the Treaty.

Article 2

In the event that the Turkish Republic becomes a party to the North Atlantic Treaty, Article 6 of the Treaty shall, effective on the date of the deposit by the Government of the Turkish Republic of its instrument of accession with the Government of the United States of America, be modified to read as follows:

“For the purpose of Article 5 an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack on the territory, forces, vessels, or air craft of any of the Parties in Europe, North America, the Algerian Departments of France, Turkey, or in the Mediterranean, or North Atlantic Ocean north of the Tropic of Cancer.”

Article 3

Upon its entry into force the present Protocol shall be subject to the provisions of Articles 12 and 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty to the same extent as though the Protocol were an integral part of the Treaty.

Article 4

The present Protocol shall enter into force when all the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty have communicated to or deposited with the Government of the United States of America their respective notifications or instruments of approval. The Government of the United States of America shall notify all the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty of the date of the receipt of each such notification or instrument of approval and the date of the entry into force of the present Protocol.

Article 5

The present Protocol, of which the English and French texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited in the Archives of the Government of the United States of America. Duly certified copies thereof shall be transmitted by that Government to the Governments of all the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.

In witness whereof, the undersigned plenipotentiaries have signed the present Protocol.

Done at ______ the ______ day of _______, 19 _______

For [etc.]

1. Attached to the source text was a cover sheet, not printed. Copies of this paper were delivered to Schuman and Morrison on September 12, and it was discussed briefly at the second meeting of the Ministers on that day; see Tripartite Min–2, p. 1262; for further documentation on the question of Greek and Turkish accession to NATO, see pp. 460 ff.
2. Subsequent extension of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization did not include Cyprus.