Emboldened, Turkey eyes nuclear weaponsBefore his country’s incursion into northern Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey voiced a larger ambition: pursuing a nuclear weapon. With Turkey in confrontation with its NATO allies, his comments have taken on new meaning. The country already has the makings of a bomb program — uranium deposits and research reactors, as well as a long-delayed reactor under construction. Experts said it would take several years to get to a weapon (unless Mr. Erdogan bought one). About 50 American nuclear weapons are kept at an air base that belongs to Turkey.

Source: New York Times October 21, 2019 09:33 UTC