Italy's defence ministry on Tuesday rejected "totally groundless" media reports that around 50 United States nuclear bombs currently held at a Turkish airbase could destined for transfer to Italy.
"We furthermore underline that all aspects of NATO 'nuclear' policy are jointly discussed among all member states," the statement added.
The statement came after Italy's Gazzettino and Il Fatto dailies over the weekend cited comments made by retired 4-star Air Force general Chuck Wald in a recent interview with Bloomberg news agency. In the interview, Wald questioned Turkey's trustworthiness as a US ally and said the approximately 50 US nuclear warheads currently housed at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase should be "urgently" relocated.
A relatively straightforward option would be to transfer the nuclear warheads to Aviano airbase in northeast Italy, Wald was quoted as saying.
