Turkey and the bomb

Published 26 March 2012  http://www.euractiv.com/global-europe/turkey-bomb-analysis-511752

Policymakers worry that an Iranian atomic weapon will force the country's neighbours to explore the nuclear option, but that is not the case for Turkey, writes Sinan Ülgen.

Sinan Ülgen, a former Turkish diplomat, is the chairman of the Istanbul-based Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM) think tank and a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe. He contributed this commentary in exclusivity for EurActiv.
​"Turkey, along with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are the countries most often cited as likely to develop indigenous nuclear capabilities to counter Iran. Analysts point to statements last December by Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal as firm evidence of this risk. Prince Turki was plain: a nuclear-armed Iran would cause Saudi Arabia to reconsider its own nuclear options. As a result, it is feared, an Iranian bomb would be the first step toward a disastrous regional proliferation cascade.