Page:Ford, Kissinger - August 24, 1974(Gerald Ford Library)(1552764).pdf/4

 To stop the Turks we would have had to threaten a cutoff and promise them two-thirds of what they got. The Greeks couldn't have it and we still would have been the whipping boy. Now we must extract from the Turks and we are better off that way now.

I told the Greek-Americans there is no possible motive for us to be anti-Greece, and I sent Kubisch to their convention. In two to three weeks they will bring a larger group down and you might want to meet with them.

Good. Then you will do these three things today. Will the Security Council meeting go?

Anyone can call for a meeting. We should maneuver against it, and if it happens, we should make no move to help. We can't let the Soviets be used as blackmail against us.

Will the Europeans be with us?

The Turks will oppose. Maybe the French will be with us, if they see their real interests. The British want to hit a home run. The Chinese probably will oppose. The Greeks either don't want a negotiation now or they are being very irresponsible.

The meeting shouldn't be more than 20 minutes, so the other Europeans don't get nervous.

You should meet Giscard only after you meet Schmidt. They mentioned January -- that may be a trial balloon. You could make noises about him being welcome here, or you could go to Martinique. Say you appreciate close consultation between Kissinger and Sauvagnargues on the Greek-Turkish crisis. Sauvagnargues will be here for the UN and you should meet him. Tell him if the situation takes an anti-American form and the Soviet Union starts to move in between NATO states, it would be bad.

We started to have talks and broke off.

You could make an elliptical remark.