390D.11/186

The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Turkey ( MacMurray )

No. 445

Sir: 1. Reference is made to your despatch No. 1277 of November 23, 1939,53 and your telegram No. 75 of December 29, 2 p.m.,54 regarding the proposed exchange of notes with Turkey intended to provide for the release from Turkish allegiance of certain natives of former parts of the Ottoman Empire. In response to the inquiry contained in your telegram under reference, the Department would prefer not to enter into a treaty covering merely the material intended to be included in the suggested exchange of notes. The Department does not consider that the proposed nationality agreement, dealing only with the release from Turkish allegiance of certain natives of former parts of the Ottoman Empire, would involve subject matter which would warrant the agreement being concluded in the form of a treaty, requiring ratification by the United States. Some type of executive agreement, whether in the form of an exchange of notes or otherwise, would be more appropriate from our point of view.

2. Should the Turkish authorities desire, for administrative reasons, to enter into an agreement to be ratified by the Grand National Assembly, we would interpose no objection, nor do we insist that the agreement take the form of an exchange of notes. The proposed nationality agreement might take the form of an executive agreement such as the Claims Agreement between the United States and Turkey [Page 1002] signed at Ankara on October 25, 1934,55 a copy of which is enclosed. It will be observed that this agreement was ratified by the Turkish Assembly although our own procedure did not require its reference to the Senate. It is not unusual for agreements to be ratified by one of the parties, in accordance with its constitutional requirements, although not by the other.

3. It may be pointed out to the Turkish authorities, however, that the provisions of the proposed agreement appear similar in principle to the provisions included in the exchange of notes between France and Turkey on May 29, 1937,56 and that the Department assumed in proposing our exchange of notes that the Turkish Government would be as readily disposed to enter into an exchange of notes with us. The delay in concluding the matter and the Turkish Government’s late suggestion that the agreement take the form of a treaty are difficult to understand, unless there are differences in principle between the French situation and our own of which we are not aware.

4. As regards the Turkish Government’s desire that we agree not to present claims on behalf of any of the persons to be covered, we are willing to include in the agreement a statement that none of the provisions thereof may be construed as obliging the government of either country to entertain a claim on behalf of a person who is a national of that country or who was a national of that country at the time the events out of which the claim arose took place.

5. As regards the Turkish Government’s desire to include a statement that none of the persons covered will be permitted to return to Turkey, we are willing to state that nothing in the agreement shall be construed as affecting existing statutes or regulations of either country in relation to the immigration of aliens or the right of either country to enact such statutes.

6. With regard to the draft treaty proposed by the Turkish authorities and enclosed with your despatch of November 23, 1939, the Department is somewhat surprised that the Turkish authorities appear still to have in mind an agreement relating only to Syrians, in spite of the repeated emphasis which, so the Department assumes, the Embassy must have placed, in accordance with the Department’s instruction, upon our desire to reach an agreement relating to natives of all parts of the Ottoman Empire detached by the Treaty of Lausanne.

7. If the Turkish Government is disposed to negotiate a general naturalization treaty with the United States, we would be glad to consider the question of including in such a treaty provisions covering the nationality of natives of former parts of the Ottoman Empire. The basis for the naturalization treaty might well be our Treaty of [Page 1003] Naturalization with Bulgaria signed at Sofia on November 23, 192357 (Treaty Series 684. 43 Statutes at Large 1759). If the Turkish authorities are willing to negotiate a general naturalization treaty along these lines, you should inform the Department by telegraph, and a draft treaty will be forwarded to you by air mail for presentation to the Turkish Government. Should the Turkish Government accept a general provision similar to Article I of the Bulgarian treaty, recognizing the loss of Turkish citizenship by Turkish nationals naturalized in the United States, the necessity for any exchange of notes regarding natives of former parts of the Ottoman Empire would of course be obviated. If the Turkish Government is not willing to include provisions recognizing the loss of Turkish nationality by all Turkish citizens who are naturalized in the United States, other general provisions relating to nationality might possibly be agreed upon. However, although we should be very pleased to enter into a general naturalization treaty with Turkey, the negotiations of such a treaty would doubtless be difficult and prolonged, due to the divergence between the American and Turkish principles relating to nationality, and it would seem preferable to conclude the negotiations already undertaken before approaching the general treaty unless you are able to report that the prospects for the early conclusion of a general treaty are more favorable than the Department presumes.

Very truly yours,

For the Secretary of State:
R. Walton Moore