The link below, from the World Tribune, indicates that Turkey is about to make a decision to arm itself with nuclear weapons. Given that Israel and Russia are nuclear powers in its region and Iran is poised to be one as well, Turkey will be relegated to regional insignificance if it does not become a nuclear power. Given Turkey’s recent forsaking of its alliance with Israel and its budding alliance with Iran and Syria, this is more bad news for NATO and the West.
The report below asserts that “nuclear weapons research has long been underway, under conditions of extreme secrecy, in Turkey” and that Turkey has made a decision to “press ahead as rapidly as possible with the nuclear weapons and nuclear power programs.” This would not be a worry if Turkey was solidly in the NATO camp, but it is now only nominally a NATO member given its growing ties with Iran and Syria. Indeed, there is a way that Turkey could become a nuclear power very quickly.
The link cites a report that the USA still stores “an estimated 90 B61 [nuclear] gravity bombs at the Incirlik Air Base” in Turkey. It adds that “fifty of these bombs are reportedly assigned for delivery by US pilots and 40 are assigned for delivery by the Turkish Air Force” (emphasis added). No US warplanes are reportedly stationed with any regularity at Incirlik Air Base. I wonder how well these nuclear weapons are guarded by American forces? If Turkey makes a decision to formally abandon its NATO ties and embrace Iran and Syria, might Turkey send its military to seize control of the 90 US nuclear bombs (or at least the 40 assigned to the Turkish Air Force) and declare that they now belong to the Turkish government? Indeed, might it not do this on its own to set itself up quickly as a superior nuclear power to Iran in its region of the world? The USA can no longer assume that Turkey will stay a US ally, so it would be most unwise for the USA to leave those nukes at a Turkish air base where they could be seized in the future by a hostile Turkey.
The report opines that any Turkish decision to “go nuclear” would drive Greece ever-closer into a strategic alliance with the Israelis and their nuclear deterrent power. I agree with that analysis. Turkey seems eager to restore its former power and influence that was once projected by the Ottoman Empire into the Balkans, the Mideast and even the horn of Africa.
I have identified Turkey as the Edomite nation descended from the Edomite clan of Teman (Genesis 36:15, 34). Note the similarity in the consonants of the word Teman (T-M-N) and the Ottoman Empire (TT-M-N). Edom (or Esau) is not named in Ezekiel 38 as an ally of the Gog-Magog alliance, which will include Iran (“Persia”), but the words (“and many people with you”) in Ezekiel 38:6 allows for unnamed nations to be part of that latter-day alliance. It is possible that Turkey will revert to a pro-NATO stance if its leadership changes in the future, but it now seems poised to take one of two courses: (A) openly ally itself with Iran (which would eventually mean an alliance with Russia and China since all these nations are allies in the Gog-Magog alliance), or (B) become an independent nuclear power and “go its own way” as it tries to restore the glory days of the Ottoman Empire. The latter option seems the most likely, but this situation needs to be watched very closely. The USA and NATO have so far given no indication that they realize the danger Turkey’s recent actions pose to the USA and NATO.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2010/me_turkey0701_07_23.asp
