THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 30 JULY 1975

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0006014862
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: July 30, 1975

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The President's Daily Brief
July 30, 1975
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Exempt from general
declassification schedule of E.O. 11652
exemption category, 513( 1),(2)02
declassified only on approval of
the Director of Central Intelligence
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
July 30, 1975
Table of Contents
Turkey: The take-over yesterday of US-run joint
defense installations occurred without inci-
dent. (Page 1)
Egypt: Cairo's decision last month to limit Soviet
access to Egyptian naval facilities reportedly
prompted a Soviet protest. (Page 2)
Nigeria: Yesterday's bloodless military coup appears
to have been successful. (Page 3)
Ethiopia-Sudan: Deterioration in Ethiopian-Sudanese
relations may be responsible for reports of re-
newed fighting in southern Sudan. (Page 4)
Notes: Portugal; Uganda; Argentina; China; EC-
Israel-UN (Pages 5 and 6)
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TURKEY
The take-over yesterday of US-run
joint defense installations occurred with-
out incident.
In a speech yesterday in Brussels, Turkish am-
bassador to NATO Eralp did not clarify Ankara's
long-range intentions toward the bases, nor did he
specifically ask the NATO allies to help him out
with military sales. He did say, however, that Ankara
wanted to establish a new basis of cooperation in
future negotiations with the US to ensure a contin-
uous and sufficient defense support to Turkey inde-
pendent of "whims of certain ethnic pressure groups."
Publicly Eralp has taken a harder line, imply-
ing that he did not know whether his government
would agree to start talks while the arms embargo
continues. He also said that at the installations
now run by the Turks, US personnel will be there
merely to show the Turks how to run them.
In Cyprus, meanwhile, the Turkish Cypriots,
doubtless at Ankara's behest, are now preventing US
personnel from entering our Foreign Broadcast Infor-
mation Service station
in the Turkish Cypriot zone.
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EGYPT
Egypt's decision in June to limit
Soviet access to Egyptian naval facili-
ties prompted a Soviet protest early
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renewed access would de- 25X1
pend on a favorable decision by Moscow
on outstanding Egyptian military and
economic requests.
The Soviets have been denied
access since early June to facilities at
the Gulf of Sollum and
have lost their priority status in the use
of facilities at Alexandria.
since the Soviets had consistently said they were
"studying" Egyptian requests for the replacement
of war losses and debt rescheduling, the Egyptians
would "study" the Soviet protest and inform Moscow
of the results after the Soviets reached a decision
on Egyptian requests.
It is by no means certain that the Soviets have
turned conciliatory on the debt issue. The Cairo
press has reported that an air of optimism surrounds
Ismail's talks in Moscow, but the scheduled conclu-
sion of his mission has been postponed at least
twice, and Soviet media have yet to mention even
his presence in the Soviet Union. There has been
no indication so far that Moscow is prepared to
accede to Egyptian demands for the replacement of
military equipment lost in the 1973 war or to sign
a new arms agreement.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
NIGERIA
The overthrow of General Gowon in
yesterday's bloodless military coup
appears to have been successful. No
overt opposition to the coup among the
military or civilian population has
yet surfaced. Gowon apparently is
still in Kampala, Uganda, where he had
been attending the OAU summit meeting.
Several changes in Nigeria's military govern-
ment have been announced, with more likely to come.
The new chief of state and commander of the armed
forces is Brigadier Murtala Mohammed, a 37-year-old
Hausa tribesman from northern Nigeria. He played
a key part in the 1966 coup that eventually ele-
vated Gowon to power and has since had a checkered
history of allegiance to Gowon.
The appointments announced thus far seem to
reflect a balance of Nigeria's competing tribal
and regional interests. None of the new appointees
served under Gowon on the Supreme Military Council,
Nigeria's highest decision-making body. Although
they have not made any policy statements thus far,
what little is known of some of the appointees
suggests they may be inclined to pursue a somewhat
more nationalist and less conservative course than
did Gowon.
Nigeria's new military rulers may have moved
against Gowon because of what they regarded as his
indecisive leadership, and their exclusion from
policy-making positions. The coup came at a time
when grumbling was increasing among both civilians
and the military over the government's seeming
drift in the face of accumulating economic problems,
such as inflation, commodity shortages, and unem-
ployment.
The status of Gowon's former senior colleagues
on the Supreme Military Council and the other com-
manders of the army's principal units is unclear.
Nigeria's fragile post - civil war political stabil-
ity could be undone if the new regime does not re-
ceive broad support from army leaders. Gowon's role
in maintaining stability rested in large part on the
fact that he came from a minority tribe and took a
consensus approach to Nigeria's domestic problems.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT ONLY
ETHIOPIA-SUDAN
Deterioration in Ethiopian-Sudanese
relations may be responsible for reports
of renewed fighting in southern Sudan.
The Ethiopians have claimed that since early
July nearly 12,000 southern Sudanese have crossed
the border to escape tribal fighting. According
to a UN official, the refugees have complained
about continuing strife between northern and
southern Sudanese, but there is no evidence to
indicate that the long civil war, which ended in
1972, is being renewed. Our embassy in Khartoum
believes that some of the Sudanese refugees have
crossed into Ethiopia merely in search of better
living conditions.
Ethiopia's handling of the story, in fact, may
be designed to pressure Sudan against giving assist-
ance to Eritrean secessionists. Although we cannot
corroborate evidence of such assistance, Addis
Ababa apparently believes that Sudanese territory
is being used as a rebel staging area. The setting
up of a camp for Sudanese army deserters and threats
to get involved in the fighting appear to be a
ploy by Ethiopia to pressure Khartoum into re-examin-
ing its support for the Eritreans.
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NOTES
Portuguese Prime Minister Goncalves is still
forming a government. Final action is probably
being delayed until General Otelo de Carvalho re-
turns from Cuba today.
President Costa Gomes has postponed his depar-
ture for the Helsinki summit, probably to attend
the swearing in of the new government. Most likely,
a new foreign minister will accompany Costa Gomes
when he goes to Finland on Friday. Foreign Minis-
ter Antunes is not expected to be reappointed, and
press reports indicate Admiral Rosa Coutinho is a
leading candidate to replace Antunes. Europeans
who have met him consider Coutinho a lightweight.
Uganda
(continued)
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Argentina's President Maria Estela Peron ap-
parently is bowing to growing pressures to step
aside, at least temporarily.
A period of convalescence away from the capi-
tal could open the way for Peron to become a figure-
head or to confer power on her constitutional suc-
cessor, Senate head Italo Luder. The President met
with cabinet and military officials yesterday for
the first time since she fell ill more than a week
ago.
The Chinese grain crop will top the record
255-million-ton harvest last year, if average weather
holds throughout the remainder of the growing season.
We believe that China is not likely to require
much more than the 4 million tons of wheat already
booked for 1975 delivery from Canada and Australia.
The EC Nine still are trying to come up with
a plan of action to deal with Arab efforts against
Israel in the UN.
President Giscard and Chancellor Schmidt agree
that formal demarches to the Arabs--either by the
EC or by individual members--would be counter-pro-
ductive at this time. They intend instead to try
to get Community agreement to take quiet but per-
suasive action in selected Arab, nonaligned, and
African capitals where it might be most effective.
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