Istanbul is a US ally, but the bombs need to be hidden
How tortuous the zigzags of big politics can sometimes be! Only yesterday, it would seem, mutual relations between Russia and Turkey were hopelessly damaged. Various pique vests whispered, stocked up on popcorn and rubbed their sweaty paws on various expert resources and blogs in anticipation of whose plane would crash next. Or when the Turks receive a response from Putin, a forged felt boot in the form of a “caliber”.
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Suddenly - grunt! - Attempted military coup in Turkey. The US and EU are thoughtfully silent, and Putin suddenly expresses support for Erdogan, who, in theory, should pull out his mustache without anesthesia for everything good.
Further more. Erdogan apologizes, there is a rapid normalization of relations between Russia and Turkey. And, as a kind of response, there is a sharp cooling between yesterday’s strategic partners in NATO – the USA and Turkey. Without any incident, a rift appeared in the allied relations due to the problem of the Kurds, Gülen, the unsuccessful coup and the uncomradely behavior of the allies during the coup attempt.
And now Erdogan is paying an official visit to Russia to negotiate on a whole range of issues: restoration of cooperation in all areas, interaction on the Syrian problem, Turkish Stream, construction of the first Turkish nuclear power plant Akkuyu. Before the world community had time to take a breath, absolutely stunning reports appeared that the Turks had offered to use their Incirlik air base for Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft in the light of a more effective fight against the Basmachis of ISIS.
At this point a most curious point arose. Incirlik Air Base has been used by the US Air Force since the 1950s. And almost since then, the noise around American tactical nuclear weapons, which the Americans brought with them to the air base, has not subsided. We are talking, first of all, about the B-61 nuclear bombs deployed within NATO since the beginning of the Cold War.
Until 1995, the Americans stored 10 - 20 bombs at other Turkish air bases - Akinci and Balikesir, but at the moment all the bombs have been brought to Incirlik and the American nuclear arsenal in Turkey is estimated at 50 - 70 B-61 bombs.
The situation with these bombs is quite spicy. Despite the fact that American combat aircraft have been using the Incirlik airbase for a long time, the Turkish side regularly refuses the Americans to station aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons on its territory. Thus, in the event of a serious conflict, the use of nuclear bombs from Turkish territory is seriously limited. Turkey itself has F-16 fighters capable of carrying B-61 bombs, but Turkish fighters are not officially equipped to even transport nuclear weapons, let alone use them.
Thus, an interesting incident arises when the NATO Incirlik air base, where American nuclear weapons are stored, could be placed at the disposal of the Russian Aerospace Forces (a potential enemy), something that the authors of the most intricate alternative historical fiction never dreamed of.
Apparently, not wanting to create such an incident, the Americans started a rather noisy fuss around the main Turkish air base, which is explained by the relocation of the nuclear arsenal to the Deveselu base, which is located in flexible Romania.
Another important reason for changing the storage location for nuclear weapons could be security concerns. The nuclear bombs were stored in an underground warehouse, 100 km from the Syrian border, guarded by only 2 thousand US troops. The proximity of terrorist groups, the instability of Turkey, the rebellious Turkish generals are too serious threats to ignore.
Moreover, a couple of months ago, an order came from the Pentagon to evacuate to the United States the families of American pilots stationed at the Incirlik base due to the obvious proximity to the militant zone in Syria and the wave of terrorist attacks that swept across Turkey.
It also appears that the hasty withdrawal of the US nuclear arsenal from Turkey is due to the reluctance to leave it as a bargaining chip for Ankara in the upcoming negotiations on the extradition of Gülen, whose head Erdogan is passionate about getting.
By itself, the Romanian airbase is not large enough and is not adequately equipped for aircraft carrying nuclear weapons to operate from its GDP. In addition, according to Euroactiv journalists who initiated the investigation, the Romanian base is unable to accept more than 20 nuclear bombs. However, the Romanian Foreign Ministry refuses to provide any information about the deployment of nuclear weapons on the country’s territory. The US State Department and NATO officials are also playing a silent game, but they do not categorically deny the transfer of nuclear weapons on Thursday.
It is assumed that the remainder of 30-50 nuclear bombs were taken by the Americans to European countries - NATO members, on whose territory US tactical nuclear weapons have long been stored. These are Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands, which already store 150–200 B-61 bombs at their military facilities. According to the plans of the US National Nuclear Security Administration, a significant part of these bombs is planned to be modernized and all the necessary preparations have already begun. Definitely, bombs taken from Turkey will end up in these arsenals and be re-equipped, which will negatively affect European security.
It is characteristic that from the Ukrainian madhouse there were semi-official groans of the city madmen “bring bombs to Ukraine, to Ukraine!!!”, but the Americans, for all their selfishness and adventurism, have not yet completely lost their minds.
Well, such a nuclear reshuffle will not go unnoticed for Russia, since it upsets the strategic balance of power. If nuclear bombs in Turkey did not cause much concern due to the limited possibility of their use, then at European US Air Force bases the situation is completely different.
In any case, the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Turkey is a demonstrative step on the part of the United States, unfriendly and undermining mutual trust. How will Erdogan respond to this?
Istanbul is a US ally, but the bombs need to be hidden.