Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the UN Security Council no longer works to ensure global security but instead is an arena for its five permanent member states to engage in strategic confrontations.
Turkiye considers recent events in Northern Cyprus, where UN peacekeepers tried to block the building of a vital connecting road, “a manifestation of this empty institutional structure that provides neither justice nor trust,” Turkiye’s Anadolu Agency (AA) quoted him as saying in a speech to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. “We must immediately restructure institutions under the UN roof responsible for ensuring world peace, security, and welfare,” Erdogan said.
“We must build a global governance architecture that is capable of representing all origins, beliefs and cultures in the world,” he added.
Erdogan once again reiterated his oft-repeated slogan for UN reform, “The world is bigger than five,” referring to the unrepresentative nature of the UN Security Council’s five permanent, veto-wielding members.
The effectiveness of the Security Council has been questioned in the face of recent crises, especially after Russian launched its war against Ukraine nearly 19 months ago. Russia, one of the five permanent Security Council members, is accused of using its veto power to block resolutions related to Ukraine.
On Turkiye’s relations with the European Union, President Erdogan said he expects EU to fulfill “its long-neglected obligations towards our country”.
“The increasingly complex nature of regional and global challenges indicates that there is a need, now more than ever, to advance Turkish-European Union relations on a healthy basis,” he said.
“We expect the European Union to swiftly start fulfilling its long-neglected obligations towards our country,” said the president.
“Especially the ambivalent attitudes towards Turkiye have to come to an end,” he added.
Turkiye applied for EU membership in 1987 and has been a candidate country since 1999.
Negotiations for full membership started in October 2005 but have stalled in recent years due to political hurdles erected by some countries, according to the AA report. Dealing with Islamophobia, the Turkish leader warned that levels of racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia have all climbed to a dangerous breaking point.
“Racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia, which spread like a virus especially in developed countries, have reached intolerable levels,” Erdogan said.
Signs of xenophobia, racism, and Islamophobia spiraling into a new crisis have reached alarming proportions in the last year, he said.
Stating that hate speech, polarization, and discrimination against innocent people hurt the public conscience in all corners of the world, the Turkish leader lamented that populist politicians in many countries continue to play with fire by encouraging these dangerous trends.
“The mentality which encourages heinous attacks against the holy Quran in Europe by allowing them under the guise of freedom of expression is in fact darkening its own future,” said the president.
He stressed that Turkiye will continue to support initiatives to combat Islamophobia on all platforms, in particular the UN, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The president also called on world leaders who he said reject such attacks on sacred values to instead support Turkiye’s struggle.
Erdogan’s speech followed a rash of attacks on the Quran such as burnings and other desecrations, particularly in northern European countries, and often committed with police protection. The attacks have drawn widespread outrage and condemnation. On Syria, President Erdogan said, “The biggest threat to Syria’s territorial integrity and political unity is the overt support given to terrorist organizations under the direction of the powers which harbor designs on this country.” The Syrian people, overwhelmed by the terrorist group PKK/PYD on the one hand and radical groups organized on the basis of sectarian divisions on the other, have reached the point of revolt, he noted.
“Indeed, as a result, various consequences recently began to emerge,” he pointed out.
Pointing to the humanitarian tragedy in Syria, now in its 13th year, Erdogan said, “We are the only country to have shown a principled, constructive and fair attitude on the developments which are threatening Syria’s political unity, as well as its social integrity and economic structure.” “It is becoming increasingly important to end the crisis south of our country (in Syria) through a comprehensive, permanent, and sustainable solution, which will meet the legitimate expectations of the Syrian people,” he said.
On the now-stalled Middle East peace process, Erdogan also said permanent peace in the Middle East is only possible through a lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“We will continue to support the Palestinian people and state in their struggle for their legitimate rights on the basis of international law,” the Turkish president said.
“To reiterate once again, without the creation of an independent and contiguous Palestinian state, based on 1967 borders, it is also difficult for Israel to find the peace and security it seeks,” he added, implicitly criticizing the continuing Israeli occupation.
“In this context, we will pursue our efforts, so that the historic status of Jerusalem, especially Al-Haram Al-Sharif is respected,” he said, referring to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Muslim’s third holiest shrine.
Source: Kuwait News Agency
