McGhee Files: Lot 53 D 468: “Turkey 1948—Memoranda”
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Greek, Turkish, and Iranian Affairs ( Rountree ) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African A fairs ( McGhee )1
Subject: Ambassador Erkin’s Appointment on April 30.
Ambassador Erkin will probably bring up the following subjects:
1. Economic aid.
The Ambassador is particularly interested to learn what amounts of additional economic aid can be expected for the remaining part of FY 1951. He has an appointment with Mr. Bissell of ECA this afternoon at 4:00 o’clock, and it is contemplated that either Ed Dorsz or I will be present at that time. Mr. Bissell plans to hand the Ambassador an ECA memorandum along the lines of the attached draft.2
For your own information, Turkey will receive a total of $70 million in ECA aid in FY 1951, approximately $17.2 million more than was originally contemplated at the beginning of the fiscal year. According to present estimates, this entire increase will be absorbed by imports included in the two military programs approved by ISAC—the increase in forces program and the NCO program. Projected ECA aid for FY 1952 likewise amounts to $70 million out of which the balance of the two military programs must be financed as well as a minimal investment program. We cannot give the Turks any information on our plans for FY 1952 as the figures have not yet been submitted to Congress and Congressional action is, at present, quite uncertain.
[Page 1147]I would strongly urge that you seek to avoid discussion of this problem, in view of the explanations the Ambassador will receive from Mr. Bissell. You can emphasize, however, that the matter has been discussed at some length between the interested agencies and that the amount of additional aid for FY 1951 is the maximum that can be made available. You should also emphasize to the Ambassador that under present circumstances we are obliged to place increasing emphasis on economic aid in support of military programs and that in the case of almost all countries, aid for purely economic development has had to be curtailed.