While researching Türkiye’s role in Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, I came across this document in the archives. It is one of dozens of US demarches sent to the Turkish government in the late 1970s and 1980s protesting shipments of electrical components from Turkish firms to Pakistan. Ankara’s response was that its export control laws were too weak to allow the government to block such trade.
Türkiye eventually adopted stronger export control legislation but enforcement remained lax. At the time, the US government avoided publicly acknowledging Türkiye’s role because doing so would have triggered a legal requirement to cut off military assistance to a key NATO ally. Interesting stuff
