British Foreign Office Perspectives on the Admission of Turkey and Greece to NATO, 1947-1952

On 4 April 1949, NATO was founded with the ultimate objective to combat the Soviet Union’s aggression. Turkey and Greece were arguably ‘victims’ that suffered from the Soviet Union’s aggression, but they still were not considered as appropriate NATO members. Neither Greece nor Turkey were considered to be in Western Europe nor in the Atlantic; and both were considered by Britain that they should be included in a Mediterranean pact. Turkey and Greece were eventually accepted by Britain into NATO because of the MEC plan. This study will expound the British Foreign Office’s perspective with regards to the admission of Turkey and Greece to NATO. The prime objective of this research is to identify their rejection and acceptance of the Foreign Office from the angle that has received less attention from other researchers. This thesis has focused on the significant perspective of the Foreign Office through the methodology of British primary historical resources. The study of these resources has found Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin wanted to have NATO swiftly formed, and the Cyprus issue between Turkey and Greece also encouraged him to not consider Turkey and Greece as eligible to be invited to join NATO. After NATO was successfully established, the Cyprus issue remained one of Britain’s reasons to continue its opposition towards these countries’ admission into NATO. Britain used the MEC as a means to prevent Turkish and Greek membership of NATO. However, due to the difficulties in creating the MEC, the new Foreign Secretary, Herbert Morrison, eventually agreed to allow Turkey and Greece to join NATO.