Turkey’s Nuclear Program: Challenges and Prospects for Future

Main objective of this thesis is to understand why Turkey keeps the nuclear option on the table since 1950s? It will give an account of the past nuclear programs, and explain why Turkey still seeks the nuclear option considering its right to acquire civilian nuclear program. It will employ the domestic politics model and the security model as well as the strategic military culture model as an additional theoretical framework ‘n order to understand Turkey’s intentions. The strategic military culture is defined as the set of shared narratives, assumptions and beliefs, which shape the strategic decision-making process of a country. Hence, it will focus on three key elements of Turkish strategic military culture that have an impact on nuclear hedging strategy and its drive for nuclear technology. The thesis will focus on Turkey’s threat perception, Turkish nationalism, and its love/hate relationship with the West. The thesis will make use of primary as well as secondary sources. It will mainly consist of mainly agreements, protocols and interviews with prominent international experts and scholars. Keywords: Turkey, Nuclear Energy, Strategic Military Culture Model, Domestic Model, Security Model