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    Turkey has been a wild card on the international scene for decades. It is ruled by an increasingly autocratic President named Erdogan. He has spent decades playing the U.S. against the Russians and beating up on his neighbors in the Middle East such as Syria. Turkey has  had a long running feud with the Kurds which caused major problems during the Iraq war and the war against ISIS. The U.S. has some nuclear weapons stockpiled in Turkey as a member of NATO but the U.S. has refused to be drawn into conflicts in the Middle East by Turkey.
     Turkish and Russians officials just held a ceremony to lay the foundation for the third nuclear reactor at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in the city of Mersin on the southern coast of Turkey. The Akkuyu plant is the first commercial nuclear power plant in Turkey and is being constructed with the help of Russia. The first reactor at the plant is expected to go into operation in 2023 and the remaining units by 2026.
     The co-construction of the Akkuyu plant by Turkey and Russia began in 2018. The two countries had signed an intergovernmental agreement in 2010. The plant is owned by Rostom, the Russian energy company. The Turkish Akkuyu is the license owner and the local operator. When the plant is completed, it is expected to produce about four and a half gigawatts. This will account for almost ten percent of Turkey’s total electrical capacity. The reactors are licensed for a service life of fifty years. Turkish President Erdogan said that the plant was a “symbol of Turkish-Russian cooperation” and that the facility will launch Turkey into the “league of nuclear energy countries.” Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a “truly flagship project” when he spoke at the event via video-conference from Moscow.
     Akkuyu is the only nuclear power facility currently under construction in Turkey but a second projects is expected to begin construction in the Black Sea province of Sinop if Turkey can find a new partner. Japan’s Mitsubishi withdrew from the project last year. The project was launched by the Japanese and Turkish governments in 2013. Mitsubishi conducted feasibility studies for the project to construct a four and a half gigawatt nuclear power plant in Sinop but ended their involvement this March.
     An anonymous source withing the Turkish energy sector has said that the Turkish government is also considering the construction of a third nuclear power plant with four reactors in the northwest part of the country. The source said that Turkey was just trying to diversify its energy resources and had no intention of using any of the nuclear plants to develop nuclear weapons.
     However, last year President Erdogan said that it was unacceptable for nuclear armed nations to prevent Turkey from acquiring its own nuclear weapons. There is great fear in the Middle East that if other nations such as Saudi Arabia and Iran start developing nuclear weapons programs, Turkey will join in a nuclear arms race.
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