Turkish leader calls for urgent UN Security Council reform “World bigger than five”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council. According to Turkish media, President Erdogan conveyed this message in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The Turkish president said that the Security Council's current structure, which falls short of fulfilling its global peace and security responsibilities, requires radical changes.

"As Türkiye, we will continue supporting all friends who sincerely strive to create a just international system and reform the UN Security Council to align with today's conditions. The African continent should also be given the opportunity to contribute to this just system. We will keep saying that 'the world is bigger than five'," the Turkish leader stated.

President Erdogan is referring to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (Russia, the US, China, the UK, and France), who hold veto power and can block any resolution. Indeed, he is right. The helplessness of the UN Security Council is particularly evident in our time. Essentially, we are already in the midst of a Third World War, yet the Security Council has been unable to prevent or influence its resolution. Specifically, the war between Russia and Ukraine has been ongoing for over 900 days, leading to the devastation of numerous cities and forcing millions of Ukrainians to become refugees and internally displaced people.

Furthermore, the world is currently holding its breath, waiting for the climax of the Iran-Israel conflict. Once again, we see the helplessness of the UN Security Council. The organisation has failed to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has been unable to influence the current situation in Gaza, and cannot halt Israeli bombings of Lebanon and Syria. It also did nothing to prevent Iran from launching a massive drone and missile attack on Israeli territory on April 13 in retaliation for the Israeli strike on the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus. The UN Security Council will likely remain powerless if Iran launches further missile attacks on Israel.

The UN Security Council also failed to resolve the Transnistrian conflict and the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008. Moreover, the Council did nothing to implement its own resolutions regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. We remember well that three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council were co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. They not only failed to uphold international law but also effectively encouraged the occupying country.

In the end, no sanctions were imposed on Armenia, which occupied more than 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territory for over a quarter of a century. On the contrary, after Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity, Armenia, with active support from France, attempted to seek condemnation of Azerbaijan in the UN Security Council. Although this attempt by the Armenian-French tandem failed, it serves as another stark example of the pressing need for reform within the UN Security Council.

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev emphasised at the June ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement's Coordinating Bureau themed “NAM: United and steadfast in confronting emerging challenges” that the UN Security Council is reminiscent of the past and does not reflect the current reality.

“We advocate the expansion of the composition of the Security Council to make it more representative and more geographically fair. I am glad that today there is a growing consensus on this idea worldwide,” the Azerbaijani president said.

“One permanent seat at the UN Security Council should be given to the Non-Aligned Movement. We believe that countries holding the position of chair of the NAM, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and African Union should have their seats at the UN Security Council on a rotating basis with a veto right,” President Aliyev also stated.

This was a clear, reasoned stance reflecting current realities, echoed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Indeed, the world is bigger than five countries permanent members of the Security Council.

Akbar Hasanov