Editorial Note
Near Eastern regional problems, including the Middle East Command, were discussed at the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the United States, United Kingdom, and France at Washington, September 10–14. On September 20, the North Atlantic Council, meeting in its Seventh Session at Ottawa, recommended the admission of Greece and Turkey to NATO. For documentation on the Washington Foreign Ministers meeting and on the Seventh Session of the North Atlantic Council, see volume III, part 1, pages 1163 ff. and 616 ff., respectively.
Telegram 214 to Ankara of September 20 contained the text of a message from President Truman to President Bayar informing Bayar that Turkey’s accession to NATO “will give rise to many practical problems” of regional command, and Truman proposed “conversations of a purely preliminary nature between your Govt and Reps of some of the members of the NATO” with regard to the possible establishment of a Middle East Command which was conceived [Page 188] as a possible adjunct to NATO. Truman added that he would be glad to send General Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “our highest Mil Rep,” perhaps accompanied by high British and French military representatives to Ankara to discuss various NATO organizational problems including the Middle East Command.
In telegram 283 from Ankara of September 24, Ambassador Wadsworth reported that he had handed the message contained in telegram 214 to Bayar and had added “A new question;” to wit: Would Turkey be willing to join the United States and United Kingdom “in urging on Egypt acceptance of a similar invitation that it too participate as a founding member in setting up MEC.” In telegram 289 from Ankara of September 25, Wadsworth reported that Foreign Minister Köprülü had indicated in a subsequent meeting that while he viewed with skepticism the dispatch to Ankara of a formal tripartite military mission, an informal group headed by General Bradley would be welcome and that Turkey “very warmly” accepted the invitation to cooperate with the United States and United Kingdom in approaching Egypt at an early date regarding membership in a Middle East Command. For telegrams 214, 283, and 289, see volume III, part 1, pages 576, 578, and 580.