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

782.58/4–1951: Telegram

The Ambassador in Turkey (Wadsworth) to the Department of State

secret
priority

Ankara, April 19, 1951—7 p. m.

663. Fol is my preliminary comment in partial explanation of request made in Embtel 656 Apr 18.¹ Dorsy [ Dorr?] and Arnold are preparing fuller comment.

Situation created by ISAC decision which was basis Ecato 241 Apr 12² appears briefly to be as fols:

1. Turk Govt requested additional military aid to meet necessary expenses of 40,000 man increase and NCO programs. I read Ecato 241 to mean that sufficient funds for these two programs have been allocated from FY 51 ECA funds made available for MDAP requirements.

2. Turk Govt has been proceeding on uncontradicted assumption that, in line Snoy–Marjolin formula.,³ it wld receive at least $27,000,000 as reg FY 51 ECA econ aid; and ECA/T has been programming jointly with high Turk officials on that basis. Of this amount only $13.6 has been allocated. Ecato 241 appears in fact make no provision for allocation of remaining $13.4 million, because all of unallocated $27.4 million will be needed for 40,000 man military program.

3. Turk Govt for many months (i.e. during and since last winter budgeting for Turk FY 51–52) has requested additional econ aid to assist in meeting cost of investment development program which it has consistently insisted is approx minimum necessary effectively to support defense effort. Ecato 241 provides nothing on this score.

In short, decision in question as I understand it (a) provides sufficient new FY 51 funds to meet only supplementary military expenditures which, in absence such funds, Turks would not make; (b) in effect cuts expected FY 51 regular program econ aid by half; and (c) provides no military aid from FY 51 funds.

If foregoing exposition is correct, we shall be faced with very difficult public relations problem. I feel it may well have serious adverse effect on overall Turk-US relations.

In thought that shock to Turks might be softened, I have already (in conversation with FonMin reported in Embtel 662 Apr 19⁴ and in a brief word had by chance immed thereafter with Pri Min) made point that in face increasingly threatening world situation we must all expect that not only primary, but overriding emphasis in US aid programs will henceforth be placed on military-defense rather than econ development.

Wadsworth

1. In telegram 656 from Ankara, April 18, Ambassador Wadsworth requested that a meeting scheduled by the Department and ECA with Ambassador Erkin to inform him of the overall program and dollar amounts outlined in Ecato 241 be postponed until the Department had received additional information and observations from the Embassy regarding this program (782.58/4–1851).
2. Ante, p. 1140.
3. The Snoy-Marjolin formula was a plan for allocating economic aid through the Organization for European Economic Cooperation. It was created to silence complaints brought by various members of the Council of the Organization for European Cooperation in August 1949 that the distribution of Marshall Plan aid funds among the participating European nations was inequitable. See Foreign Relations, 1950, vol. v, p. 427.
4. Supra.