News

A quiet but intense debate is ongoing within senior circles of the
governing Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (Justice and Development Party:
AKP) in Turkey over whether or not this is the time to proceed rapidly
with the development and acquisition of nuclear weapons.

At
stake is Turkey's strategic parity with other nuclear powers in the
region: Russia, Israel, Pakistan, and Iran. Highly-placed sources
indicate that Turkey has been deliberating the acquisition of military
nuclear capability for some time, but has been constrained by its need
to maintain good relations with the United States and the North Atlantic
Treaty (NATO) partners generally, as well as the European Union (EU).
The Turkish General Staff (Genelkurmay Baskanlari: GB) is also engaged
in this debate, but, for the most part, this is a debate dominated by
the civilian leadership.

Turkish acquisition of nuclear weapons
would significantly transform the balance of power and the strategic
dynamic of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Greater Black Sea Basin
(GBSB), and the Caucasus, and would be the cornerstone of Turkey's
ambitious program to restore what it sees as its historical pan-Turkist
mission. Indeed, without nuclear weapons — at least as far as regional
perception is concerned — Turkey could not compete against a nuclear
Iran or be seen as an independent "great power" ... >>>