Turkey Flag for Turkey

Country Spotlight

Neighbor to multiple current and former proliferators of WMDs, Turkey has relied on its NATO membership to guarantee its security. Although Turkey is a non-nuclear weapon state member of the NPT in good standing, Turkey’s president has made occasional public mentions of the country’s right to develop and acquire nuclear weapons.

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Region   Middle East and North Africa

~50 U.S. B61 nuclear bombs stored at Incirlik Air Base

30 Countries seeking Turkish-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

280 km Range of Bora-1 short-range ballistic missile


Nuclear

  • Hosts U.S. nuclear weapons as part of NATO nuclear sharing mission
  • Calls to remove U.S. nuclear weapons from Incirlik Air Base have increased in recent years
  • Construction of a Russian-financed nuclear power plant at Akkuyu began in 2018

Turkey Nuclear Overview


Biological

  • Member of the Australia Group which controls exports of chemical and biological technology
  • No known biological weapons pursuits


Missile

  • Develops and produces short-range ballistic missiles
  • Plans to extend the range of its Tayfun ballistic missile from 560 km to 1,000 km
  • Turkish-made Bayraktar UAVs have been used effectively by the Ukrainian military in the 2022-2023 conflict with Russia


Chemical

  • No known chemical weapons pursuits
  • Denies accusations of white phosphorus use during the Syrian Civil War

Treaties and Regimes Memberships

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NPT

The NPT is a treaty aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons through the three pillars of non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

NATO was founded in 1949 and has 32 Alliance Members. Its member countries are committed to sharing the risks and responsibilities as well as the benefits of collective security.

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Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) requires countries to destroy all chemical weapons and prohibits developing, stockpiling, or using chemical weapons.

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Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans all nuclear explosion tests on Earth. It needs eight key countries to ratify before entry into force.

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Facilities

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Analysis

Turkey

Nuclear Disarmament Turkey

Fact Sheet

Nuclear Disarmament Turkey

The Nuclear Disarmament Resource Collection contains information and analysis of nuclear weapons disarmament proposals and progress worldwide, including detailed coverage of disarmament progress in countries who either possess or host other countries' nuclear weapons on their territories.


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