News on Turkey

Turkey Hosts Proliferation Security Initiative Exercise

Nearly 40 nations participating in first combined air/land/sea interdiction

May 24, 2006

Washington -- Nearly 40 nations are participating in an air-land-sea interdiction exercise in Turkey May 24-26 to improve global cooperation against weapons proliferation.

The three-day exercise, called Anatolian Sun, is part of the Proliferation Security Initiative, the 22nd such event staged since the initiative's conception almost three years ago, according to a May 22 State Department media note.

This is the first such exercise hosted by Turkey, and the first to combine all three transport modes -- land, sea and air -- in one exercise, the State Department said. The department added that Turkey has brought countries new to PSI participation into this exercise, including some from the Gulf region and from Central Asia.

President Bush originally proposed the Proliferation Security Initiative as an international counterterrorism measure during a in a speech in Krakow, Poland, in May 2003.  (See related article.)

Under PSI, participating governments coordinate with each other, using existing national laws and international regulations, to track and interdict shipments containing suspected weapons of mass destruction or WMD delivery systems (e.g., ballistic missiles) and related materials and components.

Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Robert Joseph has said that Poland would host a ministerial-level meeting of PSI participants in early June to mark the third anniversary of the initiative.  (See related article.)

Further information about the Proliferation Security Initiative is available on the State Department Web site.