Turkey part of nuclear terrorism convention

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Demonstrators hold placards with anti-nuclear slogans at a rally in Aegean province of İzmir at the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in 2011. DHA photo

While acknowledging it is close to producing its own nuclear power program, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry announced late Sept. 24 that it had deposited its instrument of ratification for the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT). Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu handed the instrument to the United Nations’ undersecretary-general for legal affairs during the annual Treaty Event organized on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly.

“As a country on the brink of its nuclear power program, Turkey has made great strides in recent years in updating its legislative framework in order to ensure compatibility with the highest international standards in the nuclear field and in enhancing its capacity of implementation. ICSANT is one of the main international legal instruments for ensuring peaceful use of nuclear energy in the best safety, security and non-proliferation conditions,” the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement.

Turkish leaders said the country was committed to building two nuclear plants by 2023, a move to lessen the country’s dependence on carbon fuels and generate cheaper electricity.

The same leaders, meanwhile, have continued to claim that Turkey supports Iran’s right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Yet state the Iranians need to be transparent in assuring the international community that their program is only for non-military applications.