On Tuesday 8 December 1953, American President Dwight D. Eisenhower stood before the United Nations and warned of the threat of nuclear proliferation and the horror of nuclear war. Eisenhower soon pivoted away from his emphasis on nuclear threats and began to herald the peaceful uses of the atom. Eisenhower proposed the development of an international atomic energy agency tasked with overseeing the peaceful development of nuclear energy. Eisenhower, in 1955, directed the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to provide technical and financial assistance, as well as fissile material to “free world” countries interested in taking advantage of atomic energy. The Turkish Republic was the first country to take advantage of the new policy and signed a nuclear agreement with the United States on 10 June 1955.