141. Transcript of Telephone Conversation Between Secretary of State Kissinger and Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit1
E: We have prepared for your consideration a text. May I dictate it to someone?
K: The text I am going to read? Go ahead.
E: The Turkish Government is reaffirming their commitment to the principle of timely and phased reduction of forces as stipulated in the Geneva Conference on July 30…when conditions allow… (inaudible) the Turkish Prime Minister has declared publicly August 17 that the Turkish Government would be prepared to negotiate the demarcation line of the area that should remain under Turkish rule and he [Page 460] hopes that Turkey would not be… (inaudible) about retaining all of the territory but it should be (inaudible) in an atmosphere conducive to developing and securing for all on the Island and negotiate for a final solution in a constructive spirit without delay. This should be a framework, if acceptable to you.
K: May I make a suggestion? What I am going to say is not a diplomatic document. It is an attempt to get control of events here. I think, for present purposes, it is enough if I can say that part of what you say about [omission in the source text] to hope.
E: Excuse me, I couldn’t understand.
K: I should not refer to your public statement. I should put it on the basis that you have confirmed this to me. Secondly, I can say the gist of this but I think we should leave out all this about terrorism. The major point is to give people a face-saving excuse to get them back to the Conference. I should say that I have been given to understand that you will not insist on holding all the territory for Turkish autonomous rule.
E: I should tell you that…
K: The details I think we should leave to the negotiations.
E: What I am after is…
K: You shouldn’t be asked to go beyond what you have given us before the Turkish operation began… not beyond that border that you gave before the operation started.
E: I have shown the line to Macomber.
K: What you said about the reduction…I can say… according to the Geneva Conference.
E: Timely and phased.
K: What I would like to say about the terrorism is that we do not believe, that is, I would say we do not believe that the territory not being held by Turkey should be put in the Turkish autonomous zone and we have been given to understand that in a negotiation Turkey would not insist on that.
E: Say the Turkish Government would be prepared to negotiate the final demarcation.
K: I may put it that way, but I think for our public opinion it would be helpful to make you appear conciliatory.
E: I understand, but after the terrorist acts here, the public opinion has become fierce also.
K: I will say that the Turkish Government has assured me that they consider the demarcation line negotiable.
E: That’s right. To a certain extent; to a reasonable extent.
K: Ok.
E: Alright, thank you and my condolences again.
- Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box 385, Telephone Conversations, Chronological File. No classification marking. Kissinger was in Washington; Ecevit was in Ankara.↩