<--PREV Doc #91  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #93 Document #92; March 29, 1957 To Paul I, King of the Hellenes Series: EM, AWF, International Series: Greece ; Category: Cable. Secret The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVIII - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part I: A New Beginning, Old Problems; January 1957 to May 1957 Chapter 1: The Mideast and the Eisenhower Doctrine   Dear King Paul:1 I would like to tell you that I very much appreciated your letter of March 15, 1957. Your views on the Cyprus problem, especially with respect to Archbishop Makarios, were of great value to me and my associates at Bermuda and during the Conference I took the opportunity of urging that the Archbishop be released.2 It is encouraging to learn that the Archbishop has recently been offered the opportunity of leaving the Seychelles.3 His release presents a great opportunity and, as you stated in your letter, marks 'a definite step toward a possible solution of this thorny problem'. I sincerely hope that with your advice and encouragement the Greek Government will do everything possible to use this opportunity for the purpose of creating an atmosphere which will lead to constructive negotiations between the leaders of the Cypriot communities and the British authorities. Further, I would urge you to consider the possibility that NATO could at the same time play a useful role in considering the international aspects of this question.4 If the domestic and international aspects of the problem could be more clearly separated, and if they are approached with courage and resourcefulness, I believe that this painful problem can gradually but certainly be solved in accordance with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.5 Thank you again for your letter. Please accept the best wishes of myself and Mrs. Eisenhower and convey our greetings to Queen Frederika. Sincerely 1 Secretary Dulles probably drafted this letter, which the American ambassador would deliver to King Paul on March 31. (see State, Foreign Relations, 1955 - 1957, vol. XXIV, Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean, p. 468). Eisenhower had also written to Greek Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis regarding U.S. interest in the Cyprus situation (see Eisenhower to Karamanlis, Mar. 21, 1957, AWF/I: Greece). 2 For background on the political struggle over Cyprus, the detention of Archbishop Makarios, and the Bermuda Conference, see no. 78. King Paul had written that Makarios was the only "personality or authority that could be found in Cyprus or Greece, under present circumstances, to take any decisions that could ever be accepted by all concerned." According to the American ambassador, King Paul "noted with obvious relish" that Eisenhower had supported the release of the archbishop (AWF/I: Greece, King Paul; see also State, Foreign Relations, 1955 - 1957, vol. XXIV, Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean, pp. 459 - 60, 468). 3 The British had released Makarios on March 28 (see the preceding document). 4 The dispute between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus had threatened the unity of the NATO alliance. A weakened NATO, Dulles believed, would expose the Mediterranean area to the threat of Communist penetration, and he had raised the possibility of a role for NATO in future negotiations. Greek officials, preferring that the issue be handled in the United Nations, had been reluctant to consider NATO intervention. Earlier in March the Greek government had rejected an effort by the NATO Secretary General to appoint three outstanding citizens to formulate procedures for settling the dispute. NATO involvement, according to Prime Minister Karamanlis, would lead to discussions that would include Turkey, whereas U.N. guidelines required negotiations only between Great Britain and the Cypriots (see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, no. 1900; and State, Foreign Relations, 1955 - 1957, vol. XXIV, Soviet Union; Eastern Mediterranean, pp. 289 - 90, 356 - 57, 360 - 61, 388 - 92, 447, 449 - 50, 461 - 64). 5 For developments see no. 209. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Cable. Secret To Paul I, King of the Hellenes, 29 March 1957. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 92. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/second-term/documents/92.cfm <--PREV Doc #91  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #93

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