Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unlikely to cause international anger if he launches a nuclear weapons program. Nonetheless, his demand that Turkey has the right to do so emphasizes the destruction of rules-based international order, as well as changes in regional realities, Eurasia Review reported.

The fact that Erdogan questions the international order may well reflect the unspoken opinion of other regional leaders in the world in which the US withdrew from the INF Treaty; unilaterally abandoned the international nuclear agreement, and countries like China and Russia are ready to sell nuclear technology.

Add to this the inability of the international community to prevent Pakistan and North Korea from becoming nuclear powers, and its double standards in connection with Israel’s unrecognized nuclear arsenal.

The US withdrawal from agreements with Russia and Iran are just two examples of a much wider violation of adherence to international norms, laws, and procedures that fuel the contempt of US President Donald Trump for the main pillars of the US-led post-war order.

Trump emerged from the Paris climate deal, as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and questioned the US commitment to many other multilateral agreements, including NATO, the EU, and G7.

“America’s rivals, China and Russia, as well as Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, have countered US unilateralism with calls for a strengthening of multilateralism albeit one in which they can use the arms trade to leverage their geopolitical weight, and/or fight wars with absolute disregard for the human consequences, and brutally repress minorities of any stripe, ethnic, religious or political,” the source noted. “Mr. Trump’s ‘America First’ approach has emboldened others backed by Russia and China, including Mr. Erdogan, to more aggressively challenge the existing order and more blatantly violate its underpinnings.”

According to the source, “to be sure, Mr Erdogan’s recent insistence on the 100th anniversary of the Sivas Congress, which laid the groundwork for an independent Turkish republic, that it was unacceptable for nuclear-armed countries to prevent his country from developing nuclear weapons makes, at first glance, perfect sense.”

Turkey lives in an area of violent conflict in which the arms race is the name of the game. Turkey is surrounded by real nuclear powers, and the international community applies double standards.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which do not like Turkey, are one of the largest arms buyers in the world.

Israel, with which Turkey has disagreements, views military and technological superiority as the basis of its defense strategy and has long hinted, but never publicly confirms its nuclear potential.

Pakistan, a nuclear power, is also full of weapons.

Iran, despite sharp denials, is suspected of wanting to become a nuclear power.

Erdogan’s demand for the right to develop nuclear weapons is as much a reaction to regional and global events as an opportunist attempt to support the Turkish leader’s efforts to position Turkey as the leader of the Muslim world.

These ambitions are complicated by disagreements with the US over Turkey’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 system, and Russia over the military campaign in Idlib.

“Demanding the right to develop nuclear weapons serves Mr. Erdogan’s purpose even if doing so may not. Domestically, it allows Mr. Erdogan to project himself as a leader who fights for what Turkey thinks should be its rightful place in the international pecking order. Globally, it is a way to exploit challenges to an international order that Mr. Erdogan sees as holding his country back,” the source noted. “Says Turkish author and journalist Kaya Genc who describes Mr. Erdogan as an angry, yet patient politician: “It has taken him 16 years to forge what he calls ‘the new Turkey,’ an economically self-reliant country with a marginalized opposition and a subservient press… Erdogan’s great challenge over the next decade…will be to convince voters that his mixture of anger and patience is still a model to follow, that his formation story can continue to inspire, and that only his unassailable ability can steer Turkey to safety. Erdogan will no doubt do everything in his power to succeed at this daunting task.”