Pakistan’s Nuclear Proliferation in News Again Amid Turkey’s Quest for Nukes

Pakistan’s nuclear proliferation is once again coming under scrutiny following Turkey’s reported quest for nuclear weapons. Buried for nearly 15 years after Pakistan’s nuclear smuggler AQ Khan confessed to nuclear smuggling and illicit exports, the issue has resurfaced in recent days after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reported conveying his desire for Turkey to go nuclear at a party convention. “Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads … (But the West insists) we can’t have them. This, I cannot accept,” Erdogan was reported telling his party faithful in remarks that have caused a stir in Washington. “If the United States could not prevent the Turkish leader from routing its Kurdish allies, how can it stop him from building a nuclear weapon or following Iran in gathering the technology to do so?” the New York Times asked in a report on Monday, pointing out that “already Turkey has the makings of a bomb program: uranium deposits and research reactors – and mysterious ties to the nuclear world’s most famous black marketeer, Abdul Qadeer Khan of Pakistan.” Read More…