Concerns about the spread of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) are mounting each day as they pose the most serious threat to international peace and security, Turkish President Abdullah Gul warned on Friday.
“We are clearly confronted with the threat of weapons of mass destruction spreading not only among more nations, but also non-state actors,” Gul stated in his opening speech at the 60th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, "Dialogue, Disarmament, and Regional and Global Security" to be held in Istanbul from November 1-5.
Noting that the Nobel laureate Pugwash Conference is an important platform for disarmament in today's world,Gul stressed that a series of conferences had been held and articles published on the idea that nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction are no longer needed.
Turkey is located on the African-Eurasian axis in a geography critical for the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he explained, adding that the country has become party to all arms-related international agreements and export control regulations.
In a speech addressing the security-oriented objectives of transnational organizations, he expressed that expectations and hopes for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction had increased with the end of the bipolar world order and first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946.
The first Pugwash Conference held in 1957 in Canada's Nova Scotia was motivated by a Manifesto issued in 1955 by Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein which called upon all scientists to assemble to discuss the threat of thermonuclear weapons. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.
