Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Soviet Union, Eastern Mediterranean, Volume XXIV

350. Memorandum for the Record, by the Chief, Joint American Military Mission For Aid To Turkey (Dewey)¹

Ankara, November 15, 1956.

SUBJECT

• Conversation of Mr. Norman Armour with the Minister of Defense, on 14 November 1956 (also present were: Gen. Dewey, Mr. Hitchcock, and Capt. Ali Kiziltun)

1. Mr. Armour explained the reason he was in Turkey was to get impressions on the Foreign Aid Program and that he would be grateful for any information that the Minister of Defense might care to give to him.² He stated that he had had good talks with Gen. Dewey and Gen. Riley and representatives of ICA and had talked with the US Ambassador in Turkey, who is an old friend of his. He stated that he was going to Izmir tomorrow and that he will spend some time next week in Istanbul. He stated that he had heard of the fine state of cooperation between the two nations that had been reached. He stated that he had always told the same thing to other visitors. The MOD stated that he would like to have this cooperation continued. He further stated that recent developments in the Middle East were of great importance to the Turkish government and the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turks are following very carefully the developments in this area and of course are taking the necessary measures to meet any kind of development. The MOD stated that he is sure that, as MOD, it would not be appropriate for him to talk about the proper use of American Aid delivered to Turkey but he is confident that Turkish and American representatives in Turkey have talked to him in detail about this subject.

2. Meanwhile, said the MOD, he would like to mention the recent developments, especially in the southern neighboring countries—Syria. The Russians have been trying recently to develop certain strong-holds in Syria and in this way to create a dangerous threat against Turkey. The Turks could not guess right now what this situation might take in the future. He would like to say that we do not believe the developments there are for the benefit of Turkey as the Russians have been actually flying over Turkish territory carrying troops to this country. Then there are the Russian Troop movements in Bulgaria—especially the Armored Units. These actions do not give the Turks confidence that this is for the benefit of Turkey. Again, said the MOD, the equipment and armament that were taken from the French and British in Egypt have shown that the Russians have been working for along time and shows plainly by their efforts in Europe that if no serious step is taken (by the Turks) this could develop into something more serious. Again, said the MOD, the serious developments in Hungary where the Russians are ruthlessly smashing the Hungarian people who do not possess any arms or weapons; and again the fever of hate-the-free world is looking at them while the Russians are strangling them, is against humanity. These events make the Turks think very seriously—may lead to a world war.

3. The MOD stated that recent events show that in case of attack or aggression the nations will have to struggle with their own assistance and own forces until assistance and aid can come. The recent developments and the efforts of the Russians have shown us that we should study a little more carefully our defense installations like the radar installations. It is shown that Russian planes flying over Turkey at 50,000 feet are secure as Turk radars cannot detect them. The Turks do not possess this capability. Again, unfortunately, the present aircraft with the Turkish Air Force are not capable to cope with planes flying at such high altitudes. Therefore it is necessary to greatly augment the radar equipment. It would materially increase the coverage if they could install effective radars on the Black Sea to give early warning. Gen. Dewey stated that the Turkish Air Force had come to an agreement with JAMMAT just recently on a plan which would accomplish what the MOD desired. Gen. Dewey stated that he recognized that the present best Turkish radar had little effectiveness over 45,000 ft. He further stated that he was trying to get converters for the present light weight radars on the Black Sea as their lack was now constituting a void. Gen. Dewey stated that he was aware that the Turks would like the high performance radar which would have a detection capability up to 75,000 ft.

4. The MOD said that he would like to mention about another shortage which was in the AA equipment. Recent developments have shown that they should discuss this matter whenever they can. The AA equipment is of concern and the motors, signal and communications equipment which are in their M-Day units are necessary for their armies to function. Mr. Armour stated that he would be glad to carry back with him the comments from Gen. Dewey and the Ambassador on this subject. Gen. Dewey stated that Mr. Armour had been presented the equipment situation in some detail and had been told that the Turkish Army was presently in possession of only about 50% of the equipment required for the units that were committed to NATO. Mr. Armour stated that the MOD had been very helpful to him in bringing these shortages to his attention.

5. The MOD stated that while he is speaking about the shortages he would like to emphasize and mention that they are not disappointed with the situation and with the Russians because if we study history we will see that this nation has fought against the Russians and that no time have the Russians been successful against the Turks and they will not be until such time as there will not be a single Turkish man. The MOD stated that if we study the Communism concept of activities throughout the world we will see that this philosophy is attractive to the poor and the laboring classes who think that some day they will be prosperous and happy under it. It is not this way. Why, asked the MOD, does not Communism find a good place in Turkey? The reason is because this concept and idea comes from Russia, a country for which the Turks have always had a hatred and which at no time will this country accept Communism unless it comes from another country.

6. Mr. Armour mentioned movements on the Bulgarian boundary and in northern Thrace and assumed that this segment had been under study from the internal security point of view and NATO but that he would like to ask about recent events in Syria where equipment may have been put into Syria. Would this create the possibility of a new front and a new line, and in this case would this lead to more of an activation of the Baghdad pact and this mean that this would require equipment other than that under MDAP. The MOD stated that the information the Turks get from Syria about the troop movements and other activities are not firm but there is this point of view about their intentions: one cannot help but think that the Russians are contemplating a long range plan— maybe they will not do anything; they may join Egypt, and may encircle Turkey from the East, West and the South, so that in case of war they would be in a good position to fight against Turkey. They would be able to execute a pincers movement through Thrace and Syria. As long as the Turks are strong and can hold the Turkish Straits the Turks do not think that the Soviets can accomplish anything this way. The MOD thinks that the main Soviet intention is to descend into the Mediterranean and conduct action against allied lines of communication. The present action on the part of the Soviets will create a Southern border and require consideration by NATO. Mr. Armour stated that in a recent press release by a high Turkish official, on the way to the meeting in Pakistan, he stated that Arab countries might see the benefit Turkey had received from the Baghdad Pact and might also decide to join. Mr. Armour asked if, in the opinion of the MOD, there was any hope that other Arab countries might desire to join the Baghdad Pact. The MOD replied that the official who made the statement had been in the capacity of Foreign Minister and that he had tried to express his personal opinion to show that other countries who had joined the Baghdad Pact had been aided to a better position against the common enemy. Mr. Armour stated that if Arab countries could have a feeling that being a member of the Baghdad Pact would help them to resist Soviet aims of submerging Arab countries, then they might have more of a feeling to join the Baghdad Pact.

7. The MOD stated that he would like to comment and present his views on the Southern Border of Turkey, and to state why consideration must be given to this point. He stated that there are many solutions that could be given: first of all, the Turks could bring some forces from the Eastern Front around Erzurum to the south to compose units or activate new mobile units on this front. He felt however to do this would be a great mistake because it would cause a reduction of the Eastern Front against the Russians— the Russians possess 22 divisions in the Caucasus which could be used against the Eastern Front and it is the Soviet intention to create a suggestion and strong feeling and crisis to cause the Turks to shift and reduce their main effort on the Eastern Front—therefore they do not want to move any troops from the Eastern Front. Therefore the Turks recognize the necessity for mobile units to protect their Southern Front. Mr. Armour inquired as to what else would be required other than ground troops and was told that the Minister referred to Motorized units.

8. The MOD stated that he thought there was another important problem which Gen. Dewey knows about which had developed a couple of days ago when Russian planes were trying to overfly Turkey. This was brought to the attention of the NATO council and they are still discussing the matter and trying to see if this overflight would constitute a violation against Turkey for an attack. Gen. Gruenther thinks that this would be a direct attack against Turkey and should be acted against by Turkish Air Forces, but he stated Gen. Norstadt has said this is just an overflight of Turkey and should not be considered as an attack. This is contradictory, the MOD thinks that they are just trying to hold Turkey so that it would not act and create a difficult situation as a member of NATO. Mr. Armour stated that he hoped so—he stated that he appreciates what he has heard today; he stated that he had re-read the tribute Gen. MacArthur had paid to Turkish Armed Forces when he said that never had he seen finer fighting men. Mr. Armour stated that this summarizes what he has heard while here and from other sources; and would like to leave this as a parting note. The MOD stated in closing that the Turks are facing the situation calmly; that they do not intend to sit idly by and watch a bad situation develop, but whatever they do they will act in coordination with NATO and especially with the United States.

L.R. Dewey
Major General USA

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 782.5/11–2056. Top Secret. Transmitted in despatch 311, November 20.
2. Norman Armour was in Turkey as a member of a Special Committee To Study the Foreign Aid Program created by S. Res. 285, July 11.