Office of the Historian

324. Telegram From the Embassy in Greece to the Department of State1

Athens, November 25, 1967, 2057Z.

2431. Vanto 29. For Secretary Rusk and Secretary McNamara. Vance meeting with Foreign Minister Caglayangil—November 25.

1.
Secretary Vance, accompanied by Ambassador Hart and John Walsh, met with Foreign Minister Caglayangil late afternoon. By end of one and one-half hours frank exchanges, Vance had obtained GOT concurrence to revised draft text containing both advantages and serious problems for GOG viewpoint. While process formulating accord agreeable GOT and GOG is painfully slow and mission has no illusions about capacity Makarios government to place spanner in works, it has impression after long and hard day with Turks that they may have turned the corner in a policy sense in the direction of trying to obtain peace.
2.
Mission returns to Athens with flat assurance of President Sunay, with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister hearing his words, that no military action will be taken while mission efforts continue.2 Furthermore, in course of day, Caglayangil’s mood and manner shifted dramatically. In morning session he verged on rudeness and ugliness, with much dark muttering about potential collapse of Turkish society unless war decision were made. At productive noon session with President Sunay he said nothing. In late afternoon he was again courteous and friendly, speaking of desire for peace, cooperatively working out textual changes, voicing confidence in Greek intent carry out withdrawal pledges, and warmly praising peace efforts our mission.3 Why this shift occurred is not clear but we suspect that it reflects the personal intervention of President Sunay and the weight of persistent U.S. and international pressure to hold the Turkish hand. In addition, there may be a growing belief in GOT that arrangements short of war can be made for departure Greek forces. While not sanguine about final results, we remain hopeful.4
Talbot
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 7 US/VANCE. Secret; Flash; Exdis. Received at 2119Z and repeated to Ankara and Nicosia.↩
  2. The meeting with Sunay was described in Vanto 28 from Athens, November 26. (Ibid.)↩
  3. Discussions with Caglayangil were the subject of Vanto 32 from Athens, November 26. (Ibid.)↩
  4. Ambassador Hart transmitted a summary of Vance’s discussions in airgram A–292 from Ankara, December 7. (Ibid.)↩