Office of the Historian

751.67/270: Telegram

The Chargé in Turkey (Kelley) to the Secretary of State

Ankara, June 23, 1939—7 p.m.
[Received June 27—2:27 p.m.]

92. Treaty between France and Turkey relative to the cession of the Hatay to Turkey16 was signed at the Foreign Office this morning and a Franco-Turkish declaration17 identical with the Anglo-Turkish declaration of May 12 was read in the Grand National Assembly by the Prime Minister at 5:30 this afternoon.

French officials appear to be quite pleased with the terms of the treaty relative to the Hatay, the following features of the treaty have been pointed out to me as being particularly satisfactory: (1) comprehensive scope of the treaty—a settlement was reached with regard to all questions involved in the transfer of the Hatay to Turkey; (2) the retention within the Syrian frontiers of the Armenian villages which had been in dispute; (3) the payment by Turkey of a lump sum (the greater part immediately in French francs and the remainder through the Franco-Turkish clearing) to the French Government which is to distribute the money among the persons entitled to financial indemnification. This method of settlement precludes the friction which [Page 845] would undoubtedly have arisen between the two countries if claims had been left to be settled directly by the Turkish Government.

The assurances desired by the Department with regard to the observance by the Turkish Government of the two American archaeological contracts are contained in a note addressed to the French Ambassador by the Turkish Government in which it is stated that “the Government of the Republic recognizes the validity of the contracts enumerated below, entered into by the High Commissioner of the French Republic in the name of the Administration of the Sanjak…18 one, contract with the University of Princeton and the National Museums of the French Republic (date of contract April 8, 1937; duration of contract 6 years from the first of January 1937)…18 three, contract with the mission of the Oriental Institute of Chicago, under the direction of Dr. Calvin MacEwan; (date of contract September 20, 1935; duration of contract 6 years)”.19

French Ambassador has informed me that it was not possible to obtain any assurances from the Turkish Government with regard to the possibility of renewals of the contracts upon expiration. Repeated to Paris and Beirut.

Kelley
  1. For text, see League of Nations, Official Journal, July–August 1939, p. 356.↩
  2. Text printed in the New York Times, June 24, 1939, p. 4.↩
  3. Omission Indicated in the original telegram.↩
  4. Omission Indicated in the original telegram.↩
  5. For full text, see League of Nations, Official Journal, July–August 1939, p. 360.↩