Turkey’s invasion of Syria, US criticisms of this, and President Trump’s
threat to literally destroy Turkey’s entire economy are putting
US-Turkey relations at a serious low. With tensions mounting, questions
are also growing about things the US has positioned in Turkey.
A NATO member, the US has a lot of military assets in Turkey. The most
significant, however, must be nuclear weapons. Exact details aren’t
known, but it is widely believed the US has around 50 B61 gravity bombs
in Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base.
It’s not clear this is an immediate problem, but it was enough of a concern that both the State and Energy Departments launched reviews of the plans to evacuate the US nuclear bombs from Turkey soil.
The Pentagon has declined all comments on the matter, and claims no
changes at Incirlik. In the past, if US-Turkey tensions started to rise,
there has always been speculation of expelling the US from the Incirlik
base, an idea favored by Turkish nationalist groups.
As US-Turkey Tensions Grow, So Do Questions About US Nukes in Incirlik
US believed to have 50 gravity bomb nukes at Turkish airbase
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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