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Memorandum from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs1

Finnish Memorandum Regarding the Conference of Security in Europe and Türkiye

1. Consultations were held, within the framework of NATO, on the memorandum submitted by the Finnish Government regarding European security. There was a general consensus that no negative position should be taken against Finland in the reaction or response to Finnish Government’s initiative.

Only Scandinavian countries stated that they found the Finnish initiative serious and constructive, and argued that the response of NATO member countries should be of the same nature. The Danish Government’s decision to make a public statement on this matter without waiting for consultations within the Council was not well received by other allied countries.

Member countries other than the Scandinavian countries emphasised that it was unreasonable for Finland to undertake this task alone and that Russia was likely involved in the initiative in one way or another.

The US and Canada stated that their verbal response at the time the memorandum was submitted to them would suffice and that they would not provide any further response. Subsequently, on the occasion of his visit to Helsinki, the Canadian Foreign Minister2 discussed the matter with the Finnish authorities, and remained faithful to the principles of the NATO Washington communiqué in his discussions with them.

England, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands stated that they will respond verbally. British Ambassador in Helsinki told our Ambassador that their reply was cordial but that it contained some reservations.

France also agreed that it will respond verbally and stated that the response would be consistent with the Washington communiqué and Debré’s3 statement at the Washington meeting.

Norway has stated that it will provide a written response.

The Eastern Bloc countries have responded positively to the Finnish memorandum since mid-June.

2. Under these circumstances, it would be consistent with the general approach for Türkiye to provide its response verbally. It might be appropriate for this response to include the following, bearing in mind the remarks made by our Minister4 during his meeting with Vanamo,5 the Secretary-General of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, on May 21, 1969:

a) Türkiye is not opposed to the idea of convening a Conference on matters concerning European security in principle.

b) Turkish Government welcomes Finnish Government’s initiative in this regard. Given Finland’s position and reputation, we are confident that it can play a useful role in such an important matter.

c) The Finnish memorandum generally proposes the convening of the Conference and rightly points out the need for preparatory work to this end. We do not anticipate anyone objecting to the idea of holding a conference. However, we believe that preparation requires serious attention. European security is a broad and vague concept. It is much more likely that a Conference, where the agenda is not set in advance and anyone can bring up any topic they wish, will do more harm than good. Therefore, prior consensus must be reached among all relevant parties regarding the Conference agenda. In this way, the goal of the Conference will also be clear in advance. Since Finland has undertaken the first initiative, it can also make useful preparations and inquiries to determine the agenda. For this purpose, it is considered appropriate to begin with the issues that are most suitable for discussion and most likely to lead to a result.

d) Once the agenda is set, sufficient agreement should be reached on these issues before the Conference takes place. In this respect, it is considered that the preparation phase may take a considerable amount of time. In any case, it is practical and useful for the preparation to be matured initially through bilateral consultations.

e) It appears that opinions were expressed regarding the idea of a Conference and which states would participate in this Conference. Finnish memorandum offers more flexibility in this regard than the Pest Appeal.6 Our view is that all relevant countries should participate, from the beginning, in any activities on this matter. It is an indisputable fact that the US and Canada are among them. It is unreasonable to make a distinction between some relevant countries being treated as fully relevant countries and others being involved in the matter because they were invited as a courtesy.

f) Turkish Government is ready to closely examine any subsequent attempts and suggestions made by Finnish Government in this regard.7