Turkey Blew The Lid From Pakistan’s Nuclear Proliferation Strategy

Pakistan’s nuclear strategy is once again under the scanner after Turkey, the new ally of Pakistan, displayed its interest in acquiring nuclear arms. The issue resurfaced after 15 years of Pak nuclear smuggler AQ Khan admitting to smuggling of nuclear arms and having illicit exports.

What did Turkey say about nuclear armament?

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a strong appeal to go nuclear at a party convention. He said that the West had nuclear arms but they wanted Turkey to remain non-nuclear. He further said that this unbalance wasn’t acceptable to Turkey. This has triggered a restudy and relook of Nuclear Black Markets of AQ Khan’s network.

What is Nuclear Black Markets?

It is a study by the London think-tank International Institute for Strategic Studies. The institute published its report with the name “Nuclear Black Markets” and it believes Turkey to the be the fourth client of AQ Khan. The other three clients are Libya, Iran and North Korea.

The study revealed that Turkey firms helped Khan in obtaining nuclear material from Europe, producing centrifuge parts and shipping finished products to buyers. The report says that Turkey possesses a considerable number of centrifuges of unknown origin. AQ Khan is said to be the man behind those centrifuges.

When was the last time Pakistan was faced nuclear proliferation charges?

It was in 2004-2005 when Pakistan was charged of nuclear proliferation but he got away with the charges with the help of Bush administration who needed Pakistan’s help in its war on terror in Afghanistan.

Source: https://bit.ly/32HUvuU

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