"The world is more than five": Erdogan opposed the current structure of the UN Security Council

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again criticized the current structure of the organization of the UN Security Council.

“By declaring today that the world is greater than five, we are confronting the injustices of the global system.

We believe that the fate of humanity cannot and should not be left to the mercy of a handful of countries that won the Second World War, ”Erdogan said, speaking at the Angolan parliament.

He stressed that today's world is changing in almost all spheres of life, so one should not assume that the global security architecture can remain the same.

In his opinion, diplomacy, trade and international relations are undergoing radical transformations.

The Turkish leader also pointed out that Ankara "rejects Western-oriented orientalist approaches" to Africa: "Ignoring the need for change is injustice towards Africa and such powerful countries of the continent as Angola."

“We refuse to accept this state of affairs within the framework of bilateral relations, when one side always wins and the other loses.

Or when one side is always a producer and the other is a consumer.

Our goal is to win (from relations -

), develop, grow and move on together, ”the Turkish leader said.

In September, Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the existence of a roadmap, the purpose of which is to "corner" the permanent members of the UN Security Council in order to expand the rights of other members of this international body.

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• © John Minchillo

The United Nations was established in 1945 during the San Francisco Conference.

The goal of the UN is to maintain and strengthen international peace and security, develop cooperation between states, as well as prevent the emergence of new global conflicts like World War II.

The Security Council, consisting of 15 members of the organization, operates in the UN structure.

Five states - the United States, Great Britain, China, Russia and France - have permanent member status and veto powers, while the remaining 10 are elected for a two-year term.

“The Security Council plays a leading role in determining whether there is a threat to peace or an act of aggression. He calls on the parties to the dispute to settle it amicably and recommends methods of settlement or terms of settlement. In some cases, the Security Council may resort to sanctions or even authorize the use of force in order to maintain or restore international peace and security, ”the message on the UN website says.

This is not the first time that United Nations reform initiatives have been proposed.

Thus, the issue of expanding the composition of the UN Security Council was included in the agenda of the 34th session of the UN General Assembly in 1979, and within the framework of the 48th session of the General Assembly (in 1993) an open-ended working group was established to study the possibility of expanding the UN Security Council.

As a result of its activities, a resolution was approved, according to which decisions on the representation of countries in the UN Security Council can be made by at least two-thirds of the votes of the General Assembly.

In recent years, criticism of the UN Security Council has been heard from different countries.

In 2018, the same Erdogan said that the Security Council would only be able to act fairly if the number of permanent members increased.

Brazil, India, Japan and Germany have also expressed their desire to obtain permanent membership in the UN Security Council.

In 2020, against the backdrop of the 75th anniversary of the UN, a number of world leaders reiterated the need to reform the UN.

According to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in its current form, the Security Council "too often finds itself in a deadlock" and needs reforms.

In turn, the Turkish leader said that the current UN structure, in which "the fate of 7 billion people depends on five countries, is neither fair, nor reliable."

At the same time, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi pointed out that the current system "does not fully meet the purposes of the charter," stressing that the world has changed, and the crises overtaking humanity are becoming more and more widespread.

The UN Security Council no longer makes "useful decisions," said French President Emmanuel Macron.

The UN system is working with tension now and not as efficiently as it could.

This position was voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his article "75 Years of the Great Victory: Shared Responsibility to History and the Future."

At the same time, the head of state indicated that the UN is still performing its main function.

Also in this article, the Russian leader expressed his hope for an early face-to-face meeting of the leaders of the five nuclear powers, permanent members of the UN Security Council.

The corresponding initiative, expressed by Putin at the World Forum in Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, was supported by the heads of China, France, the United States and Great Britain.

Also on russian.rt.com "Maintaining the status quo": can Germany and Japan become permanent members of the UN Security Council?

In December 2020, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized that the concept and likely outcome of such a summit meeting was being negotiated.

In general, speaking about the reform of the Security Council, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly explained that its content should be aimed at expanding the number of countries "representing the developing world - Africa, Asia and Latin America."

First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky also noted that Moscow is categorically against the increase in the Security Council of the number of states of the "collective West", of which there are already enough. "

The diplomat meant the expansion of the international body at the expense of Germany and Japan.