251. Message From Foreign Secretary Lloyd to Secretary of State Dulles 0
You will be wondering whether we made any progress with Cyprus while Menderes was here.1 There was of course the matter of the [Page 691] appeal for an end to violence about which we told the press at once.2 Beyond this we agreed that there should be no official discussions about the British plan until Harold can meet Karamanlis and Menderes as he has all along hoped to do.
It looks as if the Turks will now accept our plan provided that the Government representatives are not eliminated. I know the objections to this feature but it really does not change in substance the present situation. There is in fact though not de jure a Turkish presence in the Island already. Recent events have proved this beyond doubt.
As against this I think we shall hear no more from the Turks about the base3 or about immediate partition. They will at least acquiesce in the plan provided that it remains substantially unaltered.
This being the Turkish position—a considerable advance when one remembers that they rioted against the plan at the outset—Harold is very anxious to have a shot at the Greeks. He will now probably have to wait until something definite emerges about the Security Council meeting. He will offer to go to Athens first or—if Karamanlis prefers—to meet him in Geneva or Paris. But he will go to Ankara whether Karamanlis agrees to meet him or not.4
- Source: Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. Top Secret. Enclosure to a letter from Hood to Dulles, August 1.↩
- July 28–30. For Macmillan’s account, see Riding the Storm, pp. 672–674.↩
- Macmillan appealed for peace on Cyprus on July 31; Karamanlis made a similar appeal on July 30 and Menderes on August 1.↩
- Reference is to earlier Turkish demands for three bases on Cyprus.↩
- Printed from an unsigned copy.↩