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DOCUMENT
IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS
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OP SECRET
C.P.(51) 132
17TH MAY, 1951
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BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
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31
CABINET
TURKEY AND GREECE AND THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY
Note by the Minister of Defence
At a recent meeting (D. O. (51) 12th Meeting, Minute 4) the Defence Committee considered the problem of the association of Greece and Turkey with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (N.A.T.O.) and decided that the matter should be referred to the Cabinet who should also have before them a memorandum giving the views of the Chiefs of Staff on the military implications of the question.
2.
I now attach the memorandum prepared by the Chiefs of Staff and I endorse their views and conclusion. An additional reason which weighs with me in accepting the views of the Chiefs of Staff is that in any event the United States might be disposed to take unilateral action and make defensive agreements with Turkey and Greece outside N.A.T.C. which might give rise to serious difficulties. As for the criticism that might be made that we are extending N.A.T.O. far wider than was originally intended, I regard this as inevitable.
E.S.