President Erdoğan addresses UN General Assembly and meets Secretary-General Guterres

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed world leaders at the opening of the annual high-level debate of the United Nations General Assembly, calling for reform of the Organization and renewed international efforts to restore trust in the multilateral system.

“The United Nations, established 81 years ago to maintain international peace and security, is no longer able to fulfil this mission,” President Erdoğan said. “Or more precisely, it has been rendered unable to do so.”

Pointing to more than 60 conflicts and wars worldwide, he described the past 12 months as one of the bloodiest periods of the past three decades.

“The past 12 months have gone down in history as one of the bloodiest periods of the last 30 years, marked by more than 60 conflicts and wars from Gaza to Ukraine and Russia, from Myanmar to Darfur, from Iran to Lebanon,” he said.

President Erdoğan said people who had placed their hopes in the United Nations, including those in Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan and other crisis-affected areas, had been deeply disappointed.

He focused in particular on the situation of the Palestinian people, stating that the injustices endured by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank “deeply offend the conscience of humanity.”

“The world is bigger than five”

President Erdoğan expressed support for ongoing efforts to reform the United Nations, including the Security Council, which comprises five permanent and 10 elected members.

“We must acknowledge that a system in which the will of more than 190 countries is subject to the whim of just five countries is not a fair system, and it is not capable of fully inspiring or establishing trust either,” he said, reiterating that “the world is bigger than five.”

He also stressed that international law must be applied equally to strong and weak countries alike, warning that an international system in which impunity becomes the norm is destined to decay.

President Erdoğan said Türkiye would remain committed to efforts aimed at restoring confidence in the United Nations and strengthening the Organization’s capacity to fulfil its mandate.

Meeting with Secretary-General Guterres

On the margins of the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General António Guterres met with President Erdoğan.

The Secretary-General and the President exchanged views on Cyprus, the war in Ukraine and the situation across the Middle East.