Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Volume X, Part 1, Eastern Europe Region; Soviet Union; Cyprus

189. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom⁰

Washington, February 22, 1958, 1:11 p.m.

5929. Following is text message from Lloyd to Secretary transmitted by Caccia Feb 21. Message should be treated on Noforn, need-to-know basis.

“You will have heard from Harold Caccia¹ that Averoff was by no means entirely negative about the possibility of eventual agreement on the basis of our compromise plan. The essence of this, you will recall, is to try to wean the Turks away from partition by giving them some tangible guarantee covering their security and strategic interests; and to induce the Greeks to accept the idea of Turkish presence in a limited military enclave as the only means of achieving the evolution of the rest of the island (apart from British bases) towards a settlement on a unitary basis.

“Unfortunately the Greeks are not at present prepared to face up to any tripartite approach to the problem; and we must therefore try to bring the two sides closer together in a series of separate discussions with each party. We feel that the next step should be for us to talk to the Turks with the object of finding out more precisely what minimum guarantee of their security they might be induced to accept. We shall not at this stage attempt to argue them out of partition. Indeed, we expect them publicly to go on demanding it if only to discourage the Greeks from raising their own bid. But privately we shall hope to whittle Turkish demands down to the form of a concrete proposal which might eventually be reconcilable with the existence of a unitary Cyprus state.

“I have sent a message to Zorlu inviting him to initiate with us a joint study of Turkish security and strategic requirements. I propose to keep Spaak generally informed, on a personal basis, but otherwise to preserve absolute secrecy both about the fact and the scope of these talks.

“I shall of course let you know how we get on. I am sure that we shall need your help with the Turks as soon as we get to grips with the problem.”²

Dulles

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 747C.00/2–2258. Secret; Limit Distribution. also sent to Athens, Ankara and Nicosia and pouoched to Paris for USRO.
1. In a February 17 letter, Caccia provided Dulles with a summary of Lloyd’s account of his February 11–13 negotiations with the Greek Government. (Ibid.)
2. In a February 27 letter to Lloyd, Dulles pledged U.S. support for British efforts to reach a solution in Cyprus and commented on the British proposals: “I agree that a compromise plan involving a Turkish base in lieu of partition, coupled with self-determination, would require a great deal of hard bargaining with both Greeks and Turks. The Greek Cypriots might be even harder to convince than the Greek Government. I believe, however, that this approach to this problem is worth pushing, and I am glad to know that you are planning to move ahead along these lines by discussing with the Turks their strategic security requirements.” (Ibid., Presidential Correspondence: Lot 64 D 204, Cyprus)