163) Roosevelt-Ataturk Correspondence

Introduction

The historical friendship of the United States of America and the Republic of Turkey goes back to the early years of the Turkish Republic. Below, we are reproducing the originals and reprinting the texts of two rather special letters. They are part of the correspondence of two of the greatest statesmen of the era. The first, written on April 6, 1937, is from the President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to the founder and President of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

In the second letter, written June 6, 1937, Atatürk responds to Roosevelt.



FDR's letter to Ataturk




April 6, 1937

My dear Mr. President:

A few evenings ago I had at the White House an exhibition of the moving pictures which were recently taken in Turkey by Mr. Julian Bryan. l want to tell you of my enthusiasm in seeing the many wonderful things which you have accomplished in such a comparatively short space of time.

I was especially happy in seeing the pictures of your good self in your home and playing on the beach with your little daughter. It has made me hope all the more that some day you and I will have an opportunity of meeting.

In my rare moments of relaxation I see the set of Turkish postage stamps which you were good enough to send to me. Some day I hope to see the scenes depicted on them with my own eyes.
With kindest regards and best wishes,

Faithfully yours,





His Excellency
Kamal Ataturk,
President of the Republic of
Turkey
Ankara.



(Holdwater adds: The signatures are confusing... the names and addresses of the persons to whom these letters were sent are positioned at bottom, in both letters.)

Atatürk's Response

Letter to FDR from Mustafa Kemal Ataturk



June 6, 1937

My dear Mr. President:

I received with genuine pleasure your kind letter of April 6, 1937, in which you tell me of your contentment with having seen the moving pictures recently taken in Turkey by Mr. Juian Bryan. You also express the hope that you and I will meet some day, as soon as circumstances will permit.

Believe me, dear Mr. President, that I am very thankful to you for your sincere feelings and your appreciative understanding of the progress realized in modern Turkey.

I avail myself of this opportunity to express once again my admiration for the United States of America, especially since our respective countries cherish the same ideal which is universal peace and welfare of humanity.

It is also my earnest desire to meet you soon, and so I am impatiently looking forward to the day when I shall have the great pleasure of welcoming in Turkey your charming and powerful personality which has accomplished so many great things.
With best regards and good wishes,

Yours sincerely,





His Excellency
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States
of America
Washington, D.C.

Second page of Ataturk's letter to FDR




Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was to die the following year, and the potential meeting never took place.
Kemal Atatürk's letterhead logo

Kemal Atatürk's
letterhead
logo.

I obtained information concerning Mustafa Kemal from someone who knows him very well. When talking with Foreign Minister Litvinov of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, he said that in his opinion, the most valuable and interesting statesman in all of Europe does not live in Europe today, but beyond the Bosphorus, he lives in Ankara, and that this was the President of the Turkish Republic, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. © Holdwater
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