Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, The Near East and Africa, Volume V

Editorial Note

Throughout 1951, the strategic and political problems of the Eastern Mediterranean area continued to preoccupy and perplex responsible officials within NATO and the United States Government. Should NATO be extended to the fringes of the Middle East to include Greece and Turkey, and if so, should a separate command arrangement be established to cover the defense needs of these countries or should their armed forces and strategic interests be fully accommodated within the existing NATO structure? The answer to these questions gradually emerged during the course of debate and discussion both within the NATO Standing Group and between United States and United Kingdom civil and military officials in Washington and London. Greece and Turkey would be invited to join NATO as full partners. Concurrently, negotiations would begin between the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Turkey to establish a Middle East Command which would be expanded to include Egypt and, possibly later, other countries of the Near East as well. For documentation on the admission of Greece and Turkey to NATO and on the development of the Middle East Command concept as it related to the problem of expanding and rationalizing the NATO command structure, see volume III, part 1, pages 460 ff. Documentation on the Middle East Command as it related to the interest of the United States in Near Eastern security matters is presented in the following pages.