Investigating the aspiration and feasibility of a Turkish shift to nuclear weapons Is Erdogan’s narrative something to fear?

Through the use of symbolic tropes, the understand if there is a realistic material rea- President has drawn attention to the perceived soning behind Türkiye’s acquiring of nuclear unfairness of the current international order, weapons, especially regarding deterrence and and referred to the acquiring of nuclear weap- security towards powers that have recently ons as necessary to build his country. [...] Whilst the exchange of information the matter allow him to brandish the currently and technological infrastructure needed to de- 120 velop nuclear energy can accelerate the process Fear of Dependency: of acquiring nuclear weapons, one cannot pre- Search for Alternative Sources of Power sume that Türkiye does not already possess the The Turkish search for a diverging source of resources and scienti. [...] Specifically, The details of the Ankara has launched the construction of the Turkish Nuclear Energy Program (TNEP) first Turkish nuclear plant at Akkuyu, on the While the plants have faced their share of southern coast of the province of Mersin. [...] For Concluding the Realist Chapter: instance, as part of the ROSATOM contract, Acquiring Nuclear Weaponry students enrolled in Turkish universities have In realist theory, there exists a distinction been a part of nuclear training programs in Rus- between a ‘hard’ and a ‘soft’ point of view sia, to then be employed at the Akkuyu nuclear when it comes to security measures in the field plant (Ophir. [...] Türkiye has been known Critique of the realist conception: to pursue a long policy of subscribing and Idealism as an alternative? upholding the terms of relevant international Along the lines of the realist perspective, arms control and disarmament treaties and con- the main conclusion reached is that all the ventions (Kibaroglu 2015, 159).