• Home
  • About
  • Africa
  • Americas
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Russia
  • South Asia
  • Space
  • World
  • Newsletters
  • Podcast
  • Contributors
  • Write For Us
  • Contact Us
Facebook Twitter YouTube
  • Leaders
  • States
  • Networks
  • Ideologies
  • Technologies
Facebook Twitter YouTube
Globely NewsGlobely News
  • Africa
  • Americas
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Russia
  • South Asia
  • Space
  • World
Subscribe
Trending
  • Zelensky Seeks Biden and Trudeau Support for Long War
  • Race for Green Metals Goes to South Asia
  • The Ukraine War Is Accelerating the Global Spread of Dangerous Weapons
  • The Ukraine War Will Go On for a Long Time
  • The Ukraine Counter-Offensive: Why the Black Sea Is Key
  • Trudeau Should Stand His Ground in Clash With India Over Killing
  • The Belt and Road Initiative Could Be a Debt Trap for China
  • Russian Attacks on Journalists in Ukraine Are Potential War Crimes
Globely NewsGlobely News
Home » Challenging the World Order: Erdogan Wants Right to Develop Nuclear Weapons
Middle East

Challenging the World Order: Erdogan Wants Right to Develop Nuclear Weapons

James M. DorseyBy James M. DorseySeptember 8, 2019
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Reddit WhatsApp
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Reddit WhatsApp

Brinkmanship may be his trademark, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unlikely to provoke the ire of the international community by launching a nuclear weapons program. Yet, his demand that Turkey have the right to do so highlights the fracturing of the rules-based international order as well as changing regional realities.

Mr. Erdogan’s questioning of the international order may well reflect unspoken thinking of other regional leaders in a world in which the United States has withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia; unilaterally walked away from the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran; and countries like China and Russia are willing to sell nuclear technology as well as arms with fewer, if any, safeguards.

Add to that the international community’s failure to prevent Pakistan and North Korea from becoming nuclear powers and its double standards in looking the other way for decades as Israel developed an unacknowledged arsenal of its own.

US withdrawal from the agreements with Russia and Iran are but two examples of a far broader breakdown in adherence to international, law, norms and procedures fuelled by US President Donald J. Trump’s disdain for key pillars of the US-led, post-World War Two order.

Mr. Trump has walked away from the Paris accord on climate change as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and cast doubt on US commitment to multiple other multilateral arrangements, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union and the Group of Seven that brings together the West’s largest economies.

America’s rivals, China and Russia, as well as Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have countered US unilateralism with calls for a strengthening of multilateralism albeit one in which they can use the arms trade to leverage their geopolitical weight, and/or fight wars with absolute disregard for the human consequences, and brutally repress minorities of any stripe, ethnic, religious or political.

Mr. Trump’s “America First” approach has emboldened others backed by Russia and China, including Mr. Erdogan, to more aggressively challenge the existing order and more blatantly violate its underpinnings.

To be sure, Mr. Erdogan’s recent insistence on the 100th anniversary of the Sivas Congress, which laid the groundwork for an independent Turkish republic, that it was unacceptable for nuclear-armed countries to prevent his country from developing nuclear weapons makes, at first glance, perfect sense.

Turkey lives in a neighborhood pockmarked by violent conflict in which the arms race is the name of the game. If that were not enough, Turkey is surrounded by real and would-be nuclear powers with the international community applying double standards.

Gulf states, two of which, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have no love lost for Turkey, are among the world’s biggest military spenders.

Israel, another Middle Eastern nation with which Turkey is at odds, sees military and technological supremacy, as the core of its defense strategy and has long hinted but never publicly confirmed its nuclear capability.

Pakistan, a nuclear power locked into escalating tension with India over Kashmir, bristles with weaponry.

Iran, despite strident denials, is suspected of wanting to be a nuclear power and having the capacity to become one, particularly if it ultimately ditches the 2015 international agreement.

An Iranian spokesman said this weekend that Iran had begun using an array of advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium in violation of the nuclear deal in a bid to force Europe to effectively challenge harsh US sanctions.

The Iranian move heightens the risk of a nuclear race in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia, believed to be putting preliminary building blocks in place, making no bones about its willingness to match any nuclear capability that Iran may acquire.

Mr. Erdogan’s demand for the right to develop nuclear weapons is as much a response to regional and global developments as it is an opportunistic effort to bolster the Turkish leader’s troubled bid to position Turkey as a leader of the Muslim world.

That ambition is complicated by a minefield of differences with the United States over Turkey’s acquisition of a Russian anti-aircraft missile system and Russia over the Russian-Syrian military campaign in Idlib, war-torn Syria’s last rebel stronghold.

Demanding the right to develop nuclear weapons serves Mr. Erdogan’s purpose even if doing so may not. Domestically, it allows Mr. Erdogan to project himself as a leader who fights for what Turkey thinks should be its rightful place in the international pecking order. Globally, it is a way to exploit challenges to an international order that Mr. Erdogan sees as holding his country back.

Says Turkish author and journalist Kaya Genc who describes Mr. Erdogan as an angry, yet patient politician: “It has taken him 16 years to forge what he calls ‘the new Turkey,’ an economically self-reliant country with a marginalized opposition and a subservient press… Erdogan’s great challenge over the next decade…will be to convince voters that his mixture of anger and patience is still a model to follow, that his formation story can continue to inspire, and that only his unassailable ability can steer Turkey to safety. Erdogan will no doubt do everything in his power to succeed at this daunting task.”

This article originally appeared on The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog.

James M. Dorsey

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, a syndicated columnist, and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer. A veteran, award-winning foreign correspondent whose career focused on ethnic and religious conflict, James focuses at RSIS on political and social change in the Middle East and North Africa, the impact of change in the Middle East and North Africa on Southeast and Central Asia and the nexus of sports, politics and society in the Middle East and North Africa and Asia.

  • James M. Dorsey
    https://globelynews.com/author/james-m-dorsey/
    The Kashmir Crisis Spotlights What a Civilizational World Looks Like
  • James M. Dorsey
    https://globelynews.com/author/james-m-dorsey/
    Diverging Gulf Responses to Kashmir and Xinjiang Ripple Across Asia
  • James M. Dorsey
    https://globelynews.com/author/james-m-dorsey/
    Aramco’s IPO: A Bellwether of Saudi Balancing Between East and West
  • James M. Dorsey
    https://globelynews.com/author/james-m-dorsey/
    Protest: The King is Dead, Long Live the King
Featured Nuclear Weapons Pivot States Turkey

More from Globely News

The Ukraine War Is Accelerating the Global Spread of Dangerous Weapons

September 22, 2023

Why North Korea’s Arms Sales to Russia Should Worry the World

September 5, 2023

Russian Tactical Nukes in Belarus: Could Moscow Do the Unthinkable?

September 1, 2023

Three Books That’ll Make You Smarter This July 4th Weekend

June 30, 2023

Here’s Where Gas is the Most Expensive in the U.S.

June 27, 2023

Vladimir Putin’s Approval Rating Remains Sky High. Here’s Why.

June 23, 2023
Add A Comment

Comments are closed.

Newsletter

Subscribe to the Globely Daily

Our flagship newsletter covers the leaders, states, networks, ideologies, and technologies that are transforming world power.

Zelensky Seeks Biden and Trudeau Support for Long War

September 25, 2023

Race for Green Metals Goes to South Asia

September 25, 2023

The Ukraine War Is Accelerating the Global Spread of Dangerous Weapons

September 22, 2023

The Ukraine War Will Go On for a Long Time

September 22, 2023
© 2023 Globely News.
  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contributors
  • Write For Us
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
SettingsAccept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
SAVE & ACCEPT

Ad Blocker Enabled

Ad Blocker Enabled
Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please support us by disabling your Ad Blocker.
Go to mobile version