Progress Toward a Middle East Defence Organisation and Its Early Demise, 1951–58

Abstract

In mid-October 1952 British and Turkish high-level officials met in London to discuss how to make the initial approach to an Arab country regarding membership in MEDO. On 23 October I met with Foreign Minister Koprulu to hear his views of the meeting’s results.¹ In general, he was pleased with the British attitude, which he found to be open to criticism and to changes in the British draft document. During the course of the two meetings devoted to discussions of MEDO, the British and the Turks had reached several agreements, key among which were: to proceed as rapidly as possible toward the organisation of the defence of the Middle East and to do so even if the Arab states remained reluctant to join the proposed organisation.