318. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassies in Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus1
74061. Literally eyes only for the Ambassador from the Secretary. I wish to express to each of you my deep appreciation for the round-the-clock [Page 660] effort you have been making to avoid catastrophe over the Cyprus question. I need not emphasize the scope of the catastrophe for all of us and for NATO if Turkey and Greece should get into a war with each other. What we should keep in mind is that such an event would mean that our bilateral relations with both countries would approach zero for the foreseeable future. Therefore, in dealing with your host country about these issues, you should concentrate on what your host country can do to prevent war and not be unduly worried about whether subsequent bilateral relations will be as comfortable as you would hope. Each one of you should concentrate on how you can persuade your own host government to make a maximum effort to preserve the peace. The stakes are such that the future of our bilateral relations is secondary to the prevention of hostilities between Greece and Turkey. My colleagues back here could write memoranda explaining why this is not necessarily so. Indeed, I admit that I have in mind certain irrational factors which ought not to be there. But the events themselves and the predictable reactions of the American people and the American Congress will take the play away from us diplomats. We need not apologize to any of your host governments for the harshest pressures we may put on in the interest of maintaining peace. The issues in Cyprus itself are, strictly from the point of view of the US national interest, trivial compared to peace between Greece and Turkey. Our responsibility is to support that central US national interest.
My personal regards to all three of you. The President and I are grateful for your dedicated effort in these trying moments.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 CYP. Secret; Priority. Drafted and approved by Rusk.↩