ref:topbtw-2853.html/ 21 gennaio 2021 /B
New York
This paper examines increasing concerns over the Turkish-Pakistani strategic partnership in recent years,
especially regarding the likelihood that rogue elements in the Pakistani military could supply nuclear technology to Turkey.
Such concerns appeared real in view of the Turkish-Pakistani military cooperation against Armenia in the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.
Music videos on social media celebrate the cooperation of Pakistan, Turkey, and Azerbaijan as well as Azerbaijan's
victory over Nagorno-Karabakh.
The issue of Turkish-Pakistani military cooperation gained relevance after the emergence of allegations,
understandably denied by the Pakistani government, that Pakistani soldiers fought against Armenian troops
in the Nagorno-Karabakh war, resulting in a military victory for Azerbaijan.
A trilateral conference between Turkey, Pakistan, and Azerbaijan - held in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on
January 13, 2021 - further strengthened this view that the three countries are working together at military and Islamic
religious levels.
On October 2, 2020, Zahid Hafeez Chaudri - the spokesman of the Foreign Office in Islamabad - dismissed the
allegations of Pakistani army's role in Nagorno-Karabakh as "speculative and baseless" but added that
Pakistan supports Azerbaijan's position in this war.
Significantly, the Pakistani denial came just a day after Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev thanked Pakistan,
Turkey, and Afghanistan "for their support in the fighting against Armenian forces."
The nature of support from the three countries was not stated publicly.
While Turkish military's role in support of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh war against Armenia
is well established, Pakistani military's role remains not-so-shrouded.
A fortnight after Pakistan's denial of its military involvement in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan said, in an interview with the Russian news agency Rossiya Segodnya,
that "special forces of the Pakistani army are also involved in the hostilities [in Nagorno-Karabakh]."
Forced by Nikol Pashinyan's charge, Pakistan once again issued a statement, dismissing it as "irresponsible propaganda.
Pakistan Viewed As Key To Turkey's Nuclear Program
According to a transcript published by MEMRI TV, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, in 2019, expressed Turkey's
intent to acquire nuclear weapons, stating:
"Some countries have missiles with nuclear warheads, and not just one or two.
I, however, am not supposed to have missiles with nuclear warheads.
I do not accept this.
In the world today, among the developed countries, there are almost no countries that do not have
missiles with nuclear warheads."
Erdogan's interest in nuclear weapons for his country might be new, but Turkey has been reported to have
desired nuclear weapons technology since at least the 1960s.
As per a declassified memo from then U.S. Ambassador Parker T. Hart in Ankara, Turkey had expressed its nuclear
ambitions as early as 1966.
In July 2020, an article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists noted that Russia is building four civilian nuclear
power reactors in Turkey and, "what's worrisome is Turkey could exploit nuclear power as a cover to procure
bomb-related technology and hardware.
The technology transfer is already occurring."
Over the past few years, several media reports indicated that the Turkish-Pakistani military cooperation also involves
a nuclear dimension.
Governments never publicly admit their international nuclear cooperation, which means there will always be denials.
Pakistan, which conducted nuclear tests in 1998, also denies such involvement.
However, there is also a steady flow of information about a likely Turkish-Pakistani nuclear cooperation.
On January 1, 2021, an Indian media report spoke of "Turkey's diabolic plan to rope in Pakistan in suspected
development of atomic weapons"
and noted that
"suspicions about Pakistan's covert support for Turkish nukes" were strengthened by a meeting of the
Turkey-Pakistan High-Level Military Dialogue Group (HLMDG) held in Ankara on December 22-23, 2020.
The HLMDG is the highest channel established by the two countries to shape and steer the Turkish-Pakistani strategic
partnership.
In June 2020, an Indian newspaper accessed the 2019 annual report prepared by the Office for the Protection of the
Constitution for the German State of Baden-Württemberg.
It noted that Pakistan and North Korea were "making efforts to procure some raw material for such weapons or
technology under garb of dual use items from Germany and elsewhere in Europe"
that could
"be routed to Pakistan and North Korea through their close ally China besides Turkey."
Some reports also said that :
"Turkish engineering students have become the second largest national group studying nuclear sciences"
in Russia and Turkey is "collaborating militarily with Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country";
"Turkish companies have backed Pakistan to covertly import materials from Europe" and
"export the finished products to players like Libya and North Korea",
while "Turkey might be possessing a considerable number of centrifuges, spinning machines that purify
uranium to higher grades, made by Pakistan."
Under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has taken an Islamist turn, rolling back its decades of secular republican norms.
Much like Pakistan, Erdoggan believes nuclear weapons to be necessary for the rise of Turkey and the revival
the Ottoman Caliphate.
The only Islamic country that could provide Turkey with nuclear technology is Pakistan.
A 2015 report published by The Washington Post noted that Pakistan
"is far outpacing India in the development of nuclear warheads"
and "could have at least 350 nuclear weapons within five to 10 years."
Islam seems to be the singular factor currently driving the Turkish-Pakistani-Azeri strategic
cooperation - a point that was reflected by the pro-Taliban Urdu daily Roznama Ummat when it
headlined a front-page report on the January 13, 2021 trilateral meeting in the following words:
"Pakistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan united for the defense of Islamic tenets."
Turkish-Pakistani Military Ties - Concerns For Greece And India
One of the key reasons Azerbaijan won the Nagorno-Karabakh war was Turkey's military role, especially regarding
the supply of drones.
The TRT World, a news channel run by the Turkish government, wrote in a report:
"Turkish-made drones helped Azerbaijan push out Armenian forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which was
at the center of the military escalation."
Significantly, the report observed: "Simultaneously, Pakistan openly backed Azerbaijan's position to defend a
region recognized internationally as part of its territory."
Turkey's supply of drones to Azerbaijan has led to new concerns in India that Ankara might be supplying the
Pakistani armed forces with drones.
In March 2019, Indian military shot down a Pakistani drone as it attempted to enter Indian airspace
in the Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan.
In June 2020, Indian security forces in Jammu & Kashmir shot down a Pakistani drone carrying a highly sophisticated
rifle, magazines, and grenades meant for delivery to Pakistani spies in India.
In October 2020, the Indian military shot down a Pakistani quadcopter in Jammu & Kashmir.
These developments would not be possible without Pakistani getting help from Turkey and China.
Kashmiri journalist Younis Dar wrote a report in November 2020 for the Indian website EurasiaTimes.com that
Pakistan was buying "mini drones" from Turkey, adding:
"The Islamic nation is negotiating a deal to buy small drones from multiple Turkish companies to bolster its UAV
[unmanned aerial vehicle] fleet for deployment on the border with India."
Also, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is reportedly training Turkish pilots.
In November 2020, some media reports emerged that the PAF had, since the failed 2016 coup against Erdogan,
begun training F-16 pilots for the Turkish air force, according to a magazine published from Islamabad
by the Columbia University Alumni Club of Pakistan.
This issue has recently become a serious threat to Greece and poses a long-term threat to India over the
Kashmir issue, a region where Pakistan has long been sending mercenary terrorists.
In November 2020, Indian military affairs analyst Murli Menon wrote: "[M]odern-day fighter pilots take considerable
time and money to train and this serious shortfall of pilots has made Turkey look elsewhere for
some 'mercenary' pilots, more so in the wake of the country's ongoing war-like activities
in Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh regions (Pakistani mercenaries are known to have fought on behalf of
the Azerbaijanis against the Armenians here) and against Greece across the Aegean Sea."
Describing the Pakistan Air Force's role as "mercenary missions," Murli Menon added:
"It is reported that Pakistani pilots have been flying Turkish F-16s for the past year.
Greece has... been complaining about Pak[istani] pilots violating their airspace flying Turkish F-16s and even P-3C
Orions.
Whilst this may seem to be an innocent helping gesture by a friendly nation, clearly there are implications for India."
The Turkey-Pakistan-Azerbaijan Alliance
It appears that a trilateral military alliance between Turkey, Pakistan, and Azerbaijan is coming to fruition.
Government-to-government military relations between Turkey and Pakistan have been rapidly increasing in recent years.
In 2020, Pakistan also built a Pak-Turkish Friendship Square in Rawalpindi, which is the headquarters of the Pakistan Army.
And now, Azerbaijan too has joined the trilateral military alliance.
Esad Akgün, the director general of Turkey's Military Factory and Shipyard Management Inc (ASFAT, a company operating
under the Turkish Defense Ministry), visited Islamabad in February 2020.
Akgün told a journalist that the company's goal is to "bring a new breath" to the Turkish defense industry sector.
Read more on:
https://www.memri.org/reports/growing-concerns-turkey-could-obtain-nuclear-weapons-pakistan
( Redazione )
