UNITED NATIONS, June 25. /TASS/. UN reform is more necessary than ever in the light of unprecedented crises in the world, it should start with the Security Council and can be achieved only through intergovernmental negotiations, Turkey’s permanent mission to the UN told TASS.
"Turkey wishes to see a more effective and relevant UN that can address the complex challenges of the 21st century. This is needed more than ever, especially in view of the unprecedented crises that the international system has been experiencing in recent years," the mission said in response to a request to comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement on the need to reform the Security Council.
"The reform must start with the Security Council, as the main organ of the UN to address peace and security challenges. [Turkish] President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has always been very vocal on this subject, by stressing that ‘the world is bigger than five [permanent UN Security Council member states]’," the diplomats said. "The need for reform cannot be denied, nor can it be deferred any longer. But it is important that consensus is reached among the wider membership," the mission emphasized. According to it, the reform "can only be achieved through the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process, the sole legitimate platform to handle this delicate matter."
Turkish diplomats also pointed out that the reform of the Security Council should consist of either abolishing the veto or limiting this mechanism. "Turkey's main priorities on Security Council reform are as follows: a more democratic, representative, transparent, effective and accountable Security Council. Ideally the abolition of veto. If not possible, then, its limitation at best. Expansion in non-permanent membership category only, rotational seats based on regular elections to ensure fair, equitable and democratic representation," the mission emphasized.
The diplomats said that "these priorities envisage an inclusive approach that would benefit all member states, by prioritizing common good over individual national interests."
Need for UN Security Council reform
On June 20, Putin pointed out that the situation in the world was changing, which also required a reform of the UN Security Council, but it should be based on a broad consensus. Earlier, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said in an interview with TASS that UN countries should prevent the reform of the Security Council from skewing the numerical composition of this body toward Western countries, as well as diluting the prerogatives of permanent members.
Turkish authorities have been calling for the reform of the UN system for many years. Such calls have become more frequent recently due to the situation in Ukraine. In October 2021, Erdogan, speaking in the parliament of Angola during a visit to that country, said that the fate of humanity should not be left at the mercy of a "handful of countries" that won World War II. Referring to the inequalities that persist in the global system, he emphasized that the world is more than the five countries that joined the UN Security Council as permanent members on the basis of the war victors.