Erdoğan Calls for UN Reform to Restore Global Trust

RRI.CO.ID, New York – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has called for reform of the United Nations (UN) and stronger multilateral cooperation to restore international confidence in the global system.

Erdoğan made the call while delivering his address at the opening of the General Debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. He said the UN, established 81 years ago to maintain international peace and security, is now facing challenges in fulfilling its mandate.

“The United Nations, established 81 years ago to maintain international peace and security, is no longer able to fulfil this mission. Or more precisely, it has been rendered unable to do so,” Erdoğan said, according to a statement from the Embassy of Türkiye in Jakarta on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

He highlighted more than 60 conflicts and wars that have taken place in various parts of the world over the past 12 months. He described the period as one of the bloodiest in the past three decades, with conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Myanmar, Darfur, Iran, and Lebanon, among others.

According to the President, people in Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, and other crisis-affected areas who had placed their hopes in the UN have been deeply disappointed.

In his address, Erdoğan also reiterated his call for reform of the UN Security Council, which consists of five permanent members and 10 non-permanent 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.

Erdoğan emphasized the principle that “the world is bigger than five” as the basis for reforming the UN Security Council. He also stressed that international law must be applied equally to strong and weak countries alike. “If impunity becomes the norm, the international system is destined to decay,” Erdoğan said.

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Erdoğan also met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The two exchanged views on Cyprus, the war in Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle East.