Türkiye among strongest supporters of nuclear test ban treaty, says organization chief

The head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) told Anadolu on Friday that Türkiye is among the strongest supporters of the global treaty banning nuclear tests.

Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the CTBTO, made the remarks during the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF), for which Anadolu is the Global Communication Partner.

“Türkiye is such a strong supporter of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. They signed the treaty ... as soon as it was open for signature,” Floyd said.

He added that the country “does a great job” operating a primary seismic station, one of the organization’s 307 monitoring stations.

He described Türkiye as a “wonderful supporter diplomatically, financially and with some of the wonderful technical people."

Floyd also warned that there has “never been a higher risk of a return to testing than now,” expressing concern that some countries are reconsidering nuclear testing despite the treaty being adopted nearly 30 years ago.

“It is a great concern when a number of states are talking about returning to testing, because if some do, then others are very likely to follow,” he said, warning that if that happens, “we may lose this moratorium against testing, this norm against testing, which is so strongly and globally held.”

Although the treaty has not yet entered into force, Floyd said countries have largely adhered to their political commitments and emphasized the need to maintain this momentum.

He said that since the treaty was adopted, the number of nuclear tests has remained below 12, compared to more than 2,000 conducted before the agreement.

*Writing by Asiye Latife Yilmaz in Istanbul