Türkiye warns Israel's possession of nukes could heighten nuclear arms race in region

Israel's continued possession of nuclear weapons could heighten the nuclear arms race in the region, leading to an unfavourable situation, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has warned.

"The ongoing possession of nuclear weapons by Israel, coupled with the failure to denuclearise the region, will escalate the nuclear arms race, leading to increased nuclearisation in the area," Fidan told Qatar-broadcaster Al Jazeera on Saturday.

"This is not a favourable situation for both the region and the world."

"Israel's possession of nuclear weapons has been a known yet unacknowledged secret for many years — a fact that everyone is aware of but no one has admitted. We see that Israel has developed its nuclear capability by not becoming a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and we also know that it has received significant support from both the US and Europe in this regard.

So, this is not a secret," he said.

The minister emphasised the need for complete denuclearisation of the region or other countries will take steps to enhance their security, stressing the urgency to find a solution to the critical strategic issue.

Solidarity among Muslim countries

Emphasising the significant progress made during the Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit held in Riyadh last week, he highlighted it was a turning point in fostering cooperation and solidarity among Muslim countries.

Regarding the concrete effect of decisions made, he emphasised the urgency to halt the Israeli bloodshed in besieged Gaza and ensure prompt aid delivery.

He said Muslim countries right now are opting to solve the issue by using all diplomatic and humanitarian tools.

Earlier this week Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce whether Israel had nuclear weapons and he returned to the issue in his comments to reporters, calling for nuclear weapons inspections there.

"As Türkiye, we are making this call. Israel's nuclear weapons must be inspected beyond doubt before it is too late. We will follow up on this," he said.

Türkiye has also slammed Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu who recently said in an interview with Radio Kol Berama that nuking besieged Gaza was an option.

The minister from the extremist Otzma Yehudit party had said: "There is no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza", and "They [Palestinians] can go to Ireland or deserts."