130 Petrides, Basil
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Greece (Morris)
Sir: The Department refers to your despatch No. 2188 of July 19, 1932,66 concerning the action of the local Greek authorities in requiring Mrs. Dimitra Petrides, the wife of Doctor Menelaus Petrides, to have her two American born children registered as Greek citizens as a prerequisite to permitting them to depart from Greece. It is noted from the enclosure to your despatch that the Greek authorities claim that Mrs. Petrides was residing permanently in Greece at the time the inscription of her sons in the register of the municipality in Athens was ordered, and in this connection there is enclosed herewith an affidavit67 by Mrs. Petrides in which she [Page 446] denies that she was permanently residing in Greece at the time the registration of her sons as Greek citizens was ordered and supports her allegation by showing that she was in possession of an alien’s return permit obtained by her prior to her departure from the United States.
In view of the statements made by Mrs. Petrides in her affidavit it is desired that you take up this case again with the Greek authorities and point out the error of their assertion that Mrs. Petrides was permanently residing in Greece at the time the registration of her sons as Greek citizens was ordered. The attention of the Greek authorities should also be again directed to the fact that the children under reference were born in the United States and to the citizenship status of their father as set forth in the Department’s instruction to your office of November 30, 1931. In this connection emphasis should be laid upon the fact that Mr. Menelaus Petrides was naturalized as an American citizen on April 3, 1917, and at that time renounced allegiance to Turkey and that it is therefore the view of this Government that he should not be regarded by the Greek Government as one of the persons whose cases come within the purview of the Greco-Turkish Treaty of June 10, 1930.
Very truly yours,