Thursday, March 09, 2006

turkey's nuclear program

* miguel sent this through:
"Turkey is reviving its long-deferred quest for nuclear power, pressed both by serious energy shortfalls within its own borders and by strident nuclear ambitions in neighboring Iran that threaten to upset a regional balance of power.

"The rise in oil prices and the need for multiple sources of energy make our need for nuclear energy an utmost priority," Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said last month in announcing plans to build as many as five atomic energy plants.

[snip to the end of the doc]

"Turkey's state policy is always: Play the game within the rules," said Mustafa Kibaroglu, a nuclear proliferation expert at Bilkent University in Ankara. But "if Iran goes nuclear, then who knows?"

In the past, Kibaroglu saw merit in a domestic nuclear industry for Turkey. In a recent interview, however, he argued for alternatives, including improvements to the electrical grid, which leaks as much as a quarter of the power it produces.

"I'm not supporting Turkey's nuclear energy program anymore," he said, "because I'm not clear about what the real intention is. Let's put it that way.""
that's from page 14 in the WaPo

where's the outrage?

1 comment:

Miguel said...

This is significant since a lot of Sibel's charges have to do with Turkish nationals paying cash for U.S. nuclear secrets. For the most part, the assumption is that these nuclear secrets have gone to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and to the extent such an organization exists, al-Qaeda.

But was part of the motive of the Turkish nationals in bribing people like Perle and Feith to help their home country, Turkey, ramp up its own weapons program?