Time for a reset Aliyev, Erdoğan, and Trump call for UN reform

“Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights” — this is the motto of the landmark 80th session of the UN General Assembly now under way in New York, bringing together world leaders and senior representatives of member states. The central theme, one of undeniable global importance, is the search for ways to resolve the conflicts that today engulf nearly every corner of the globe.

Yet the past eight decades have shown that many UN decisions remain little more than words on paper. Azerbaijan knows this from painful experience during the years of Armenia’s occupation of its lands. All four UN Security Council resolutions demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian forces from the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan were left unimplemented — simply ignored by Yerevan. This failure remains a stark example of the UN’s chronic ineffectiveness.

Having experienced injustice firsthand, Azerbaijan was among the first to call for reform of the United Nations, pointing to its own case as evidence of the Organisation’s inability to resolve conflicts. Speaking at the UN General Assembly in 2017, President Ilham Aliyev stressed that Armenia, in blatant violation of international law, continued to ignore all four UN Security Council resolutions. He reiterated this point in many subsequent addresses.

At the 75th session of the General Assembly in 2020, the Azerbaijani leader again drew the world’s attention to Armenia’s failure to comply with UN resolutions. He also warned that Yerevan’s aggressive rhetoric and provocations signalled preparations for another act of aggression against Azerbaijan, urging the UN and the international community to prevent such a scenario. Yet the Organisation remained silent — and just six days later, Armenia launched a new war in the region.

In 2022, at the Baku Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement’s Parliamentary Network, Ilham Aliyev once again raised the issue of UN reform. “[...] it is a question of reforms of the United Nations and its Security Council because if resolutions are not implemented, then what is the sense of that? We speak for reforms, and I think this should also be discussed on the level of heads of state and government of NAM to put an end to the selective implementation of the United Nations Security Council based on political preferences,” Aliyev said.

The issue of reforming the UN Security Council was again raised by the President of Azerbaijan at the Baku Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement’s Contact Group on the fight against COVID-19 in March 2023. “Another important issue, which has been discussed worldwide for many years, is the UN system’s reforms. The UN Security Council is reminiscent of the past and does not reflect the current reality,” he stated.

In November 2024, at the opening of the COP29 Leaders’ Summit, the president declared: “A year ago, we fully restored our sovereignty in accordance with the UN Charter, international law, and UN Security Council resolutions, which had remained on paper for 30 years. We implemented these resolutions ourselves and restored international law, justice, and put an end to the Armenian occupation.”

With this message, Ilham Aliyev reminded the world of two crucial points. First, Azerbaijan succeeded in resolving a decades-long problem on its own, liberating its territories. Second, by restoring its lands through military means, the President underscored that the UN has entirely exhausted its diplomatic instruments for conflict resolution and is therefore in urgent need of profound reform.

A similar call by President Ilham Aliyev was made during his address to the 13th Meeting of CICA Think Tank Forum themed “Resonance of Development and Security: Regional Cooperation and Governance in the Institutional Transformation of CICA,” held in September this year. “We believe that countries of the Global South must play an active role in shaping a new, just world order and contribute meaningfully to this endeavor. In this context, it is essential to implement necessary reforms at the United Nations and to ensure adequate representation of Global South countries among the permanent members of the Security Council. The Security Council has long become an institution that does not reflect the realities of our time. Azerbaijan, as a country that ensured the implementation of Security Council resolutions calling for the liberation of its occupied territories - resolutions that had remained merely on paper - understands this very well,” Aliyev emphasised.

Azerbaijan’s call for UN reform has received support from the current White House administration and is backed by several countries, including Türkiye. This was echoed by President Erdoğan, who stressed the urgent need for UN reform in an article for the American magazine Newsweek.

In addition, before departing for New York to attend the current session of the General Assembly, the Turkish leader spoke with journalists, criticising the UN “Big Five” and calling for reform of the organisation due to its ineffectiveness in conflict resolution and addressing modern challenges.

"We see that the current structure of the UN, reflecting conditions from 80 years ago, is insufficient to fulfil today’s tasks. We first stated this 12 years ago from the UN podium, pointing out that the world is bigger than five [permanent members of the UN Security Council]. Over the years, the correctness of our assessment has been repeatedly confirmed. Even at the level of the Secretary-General, there has been growing recognition of the urgent need for UN reform," Erdoğan said. He also emphasised that Türkiye has always supported efforts to reform the UN and will continue to do so.

A clear sign that Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and the White House share fully aligned positions on UN reform comes from recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Trump criticised the organisation for its inaction in resolving global conflicts, despite its existing potential. He stated that “never even received a phone call from the United Nations offering to help in finalizing the deal.”

"For the most part, at least for now, all they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up. It's empty words and empty words don't solve war," Trump said, noting that since his return to the White House, the UN had not even attempted to assist him in addressing seven wars that he himself brought to an end.

In conclusion, it can be confidently stated that the time for reforming the United Nations, established after the Second World War, has come. Delaying reforms any longer is simply unacceptable: the international community needs a new security architecture, and humanity requires a fairer world.

The now-historic phrase of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — “Beyond Five: Building a Global System for Everyone” — which was displayed on digital screens at the famous Times Square in Manhattan, stands as a vivid testament to this.