Turkey could be pulled into a regional nuclear arms race if Iran moves toward nuclear weapons, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in a televised interview on Monday.
Fidan was speaking on a prime-time program hosted by pro-government columnist Ahmet Hakan and aired on CNN’s Turkish franchise, CNN Türk. Asked whether Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons would be a threat to Turkey, Fidan said Ankara does not want “dramatic changes” that would upset the regional balance but said Turkey could be compelled to join a nuclear competition.
His comments came as the United States presses Iran to curb activities that Western governments say could shorten the time needed to produce weapons-grade material. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.
Fidan said the Middle East could not withstand another war and dismissed the idea that airstrikes could topple Iran’s leadership.
Referring to US-Iran talks held in Oman on Friday and expected to continue this week, the Turkish foreign minister presented diplomacy as the only workable path. Fidan stressed that he doesn’t expect the tensions to escalate to a US war with Iran.
Turkey sits at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East and shares a border with Iran. It is a member of the NATO and a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which commits non-nuclear weapon states not to pursue nuclear arms.
Turkey does not have a nuclear weapons program, but US nuclear gravity bombs are widely estimated to be stored at İncirlik Air Base, a Turkish military facility that hosts US forces near the city of Adana in southern Turkey, not far from the Syrian border. Analysts say the weapons remain under US control.
Fidan also pointed to what he called double standards in the region, repeating Turkey’s longstanding claim that Israel has nuclear weapons. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied having a nuclear arsenal.
Turkey’s first nuclear power plant, the Russian-built Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, has faced delays, with the first power now expected this year.
Fidan framed the risk of a wider arms race as part of a broader debate about security guarantees, suggesting that doubts about whether Washington would meet defense commitments could fuel nuclear ambitions beyond the Middle East, including in parts of Asia and Europe.