Topic: 2025 – No First Use Policies and Nuclear Disarmament
Country: Turkey
Delegate Name: Emily Chen
Country: Delegation of Türkiye
Committee: Disarmament and International Security Committee
Nuclear Disarmament and Policies
In August of 1945, the world saw firsthand the devastation caused by nuclear weapons, killing a quarter of a million civilians from the blast, and another 200,000 from radiation overdoses (United). Even those who were not killed by the blast or radiation either died from suffocation due to the firestorms that consume oxygen or suffered from severe burns from the thermal flash (The MIT). As a response to the tragedies that occurred in Japan, as well as World War II as a whole, the United Nations was created, and the call for the banning of nuclear weapon production and possession has been one of its main priorities. Since then, the UN has addressed the disarmament of nuclear weapons and the prohibition of production in various ways, the most recent being the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons or the TPNW (United). This treaty is the “first legally binding international agreement to prohibit its States Parties from developing, testing, producing, acquiring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons” (United). Along with the TPNW, the UN has supported initiatives such as the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which calls for the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons, and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty or the CTBT, which bans “any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion” anywhere in the world, regardless of the reason (United). Despite these resolutions, countries today are still producing and in possession of nuclear weapons. Currently, there are roughly 12,331 nuclear weapons in the world, all of which are in the possession of 9 countries. Just one of these nuclear weapons would wipe out an estimated 583,160 facilities if one were to be detonated over New York (Which). Along with these 9 nations, 6 are hosting nuclear weapons, and 28 endorse their use. None of these countries is a part of the TPNW, and only one holds a true “no first use” policy on the topic of nuclear weapons, while others have exceptions to this policy or simply do not acknowledge their arsenal (No).
As one of the 28 nations that endorse the use of nuclear weapons, Türkiye sees current and past resolutions as a way for non-nuclear states to stay militarily inferior to those who possess nuclear weapons. Türkiye has consistently voted against the annual resolution of adopting the TPNW and joined the United States, along with others, to protest the making of the TPNW. In 2016, Türkiye voted against the resolution that formally mandated states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” (Türkiye). Türkiye also holds roughly 20 U.S B61 nuclear bombs at Incirlik Air Base (Nuclear). More recently, in 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the idea that countries like “the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom could possess nuclear weapons while others, including Turkey, could not” and wishes to reduce, if not eliminate, the reliance on foreign military products (FAQ). Even with these views on nuclear weapons, Türkiye is not against the idea of nuclear disarmament, just not how it stands currently. Türkiye has shown support for the Australia-led Humanitarian Initiative that promotes nuclear disarmament by concentrating on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear war. This nation is also a member of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative or the NPDI, a group of “non-nuclear weapon states dedicated to disarmament, nonproliferation, and peaceful nuclear activities”, along with the NPT, the Partial Test Ban Treaty or the PTBT, and ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, also known as the CTBT (Nuclear). Türkiye is not opposed to nuclear disarmament, but any plan that allows countries that already have a great amount of power to keep their nuclear power is one that Türkiye is firmly against. If the UN lets these countries keep their power, Türkiye is afraid for its safety, especially in the current political climate, and believes countries such as Türkiye should be allowed to possess their own arsenal as a defensive measure.
As it stands, the current resolutions are doing nothing to ensure the safety of those whose militaries are not as advanced as countries like the United States. Any plans that could bridge this gap, such as the TPNW, do not address this issue since those countries are not a part of this plan. The Delegation of Türkiye believes to hold accountability to the nuclear-weapon states, non-nuclear-weapon states, who wish to do so, should have the ability to possess their own nuclear weapons. To prevent the production of more nuclear weapons, the Delegation of Türkiye believes in the dispersing of existing weapons rather than making new ones. Countries that wish to receive nuclear weapons and own them must agree upon a “no first use” policy. This ensures no additional countries can use nuclear weapons as an offensive measure, while also allowing countries such as Türkiye to gain more independence militarily and powers such as the United States to decrease. It is unacceptable and dangerous for certain countries to be the only ones to be able to possess such weapons of destruction and then dictate who can and cannot have nuclear power. This power must be shared to ensure the balance of power and the accountability of the bigger powers.
Bibliography
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