US keeps nearly 70 nuclear bombs in southern Turkey: Report

 

A US B61 thermonuclear bomb (file photo)

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/28/269141/us-keeps-70-nuclear-bombs-in-turkey/

A report says the United States keeps about 70 B61 nuclear bombs at a military base in southern Turkey.

According to a recent report published by the Arabic Nakhel news agency, Turkish sources said the bombs are kept at Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base in Adana province.

The thermonuclear bomb, which is 3.53 meters long and weighs 320 kilograms, is considered as one of the most strategic weapons of the US.

Between 10 to 20 of the bombs were stored at Turkey’s Balikesir and Ekinci airbases before they were transferred to Incirlik, the report said.

Turkey is also home to a controversial NATO radar base manned by US forces, which is part of a larger US-led missile system.

The missile system became operational in Turkey’s eastern province of Malatya in early 2012.

Some leading Turkish politicians and lawmakers have cautioned that the system will not be beneficial to Turkey and will only serve the interests of the Israeli regime.

The stationing of the US-sponsored radar system in Turkey was hailed by American officials as the most significant military cooperation between Washington and Ankara since 2003, when Turkey refused to allow a US armored division to cross Turkish territory to join the military invasion of Iraq from the north.