173. Letter From Foreign Secretary Lloyd to Secretary of State Dulles0

Dear Foster: Harold Caccia will have told you of the Turkish Government’s reaction to our ideas on Cyprus policy1 and of the further communication which I am today instructing our Ambassador in Ankara to make.2 The Turkish Memorandum is about as bad as it could be, but I am not disposed to take their reply as a final refusal. I think that the best chance of persuading them to go along with the course of action on which we have decided will be in personal discussions with Menderes at the end of next week.3 I much hope that when you arrive in Ankara you will give me your valuable support in inducing them to be more reasonable. Between now and then, it may be possible to clear up certain points in further diplomatic exchanges between the Turks and ourselves, but we shall not run after them. In any case we shall have enough trouble with the Greeks and Makarios.

I should be very glad to have any comments you might care to make on the whole correspondence.4

Yours ever,

Selwyn5
  1. Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Top Secret. Attached to a letter from Caccia to Dulles, January 17.
  2. On January 14, the Turkish Government rejected the Foot Plan and suggested that the British Government instead announce that Cyprus would be partitioned at the end of one year and simultaneously invite the Greek and Turkish Governments to a meeting to discuss final disposition of the island. In the event of a Greek refusal to attend such a meeting, the British and Turkish Governments would then settle the Cyprus issue between themselves. The Turkish proposals were summarized in telegram 1910 from Ankara, January 16. (Ibid., Central Files, 747C.00/1–1658)
  3. A copy of the instructions sent from London to the British Embassy in Ankara was attached. In it the British Government repeated that it would continue to rule Cyprus until a political solution satisfactory to both Greek and Turkish Cypriots was found. The British Government accused the Turkish Government and press of stirring up unrest among Turkish Cypriots. The British Government also stated that it would refrain from further public statements on Cyprus and consultations with the Greek Government until Lloyd had met with Turkish leaders in Ankara.
  4. In his covering letter to Dulles, Caccia reported that Lloyd proposed to fly to Ankara on January 24 and hold bilateral talks with the Turks January 25–26.
  5. In a January 18 letter which he handed to Caccia for delivery to Lloyd, Dulles praised the British Government for its efforts to promote a settlement in Cyprus and encouraged the continuance of these efforts. He added: “I suppose that it is highly unlikely that the Turkish position will be amended to the extent that the proposals in their present form will ever be found fully acceptable. Indeed, the Greeks too can be expected to raise serious questions, particularly with respect to the possibility of partition on which we share your own reservations. We had hoped, however, that the plan would be near enough to the mark so that it might offer a basis for starting negotiations toward a settlement.” Dulles then offered U.S. assistance in persuading the Greeks and Turks to accept the plan “as a point of departure for discussions.” (Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204)
  6. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.