Following is the message President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued on October 24, United Nations Day and the 79th Anniversary of the Establishment of the United Nations Organization:
“I congratulate the UN Secretary-General and the UN staff on the 79th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations (UN) Organization.
The Organization commemorates its anniversary unfortunately with feelings of bitterness at a time when the number of UN officials who have lost their lives in Gaza and other conflict zones has reached record levels, peacekeeping missions have been attacked, and even the Secretary-General himself has been declared “persona non grata.”
And yet, the destruction caused by conflicts all over the world, the ever-expanding and deepening state of hunger and poverty, Islamophobia and xenophobia that permeate the world, are increasing the duties and responsibilities that fall upon the United Nations. The proper fulfillment of these responsibilities can only be possible by ensuring appropriate conditions under which all the main organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council, can perform their functions.
The United Nations, which was established 79 years ago today to protect future generations from wars and of which Türkiye was among the founders, is unfortunately in a state of inertia due to the inability of the Security Council, the body empowered with the broadest authority for this purpose, in the face of developments that trample both international law and human dignity. The Security Council, which has failed to take steps to end the genocide in Gaza, emboldens the perpetrators with this stance and undermines faith in the rules-based international system. It is vital that the Security Council takes and implements the measures required by international law, before the current situation in the Middle East turns into an even more devastating, large-scale crisis.
Türkiye is ready to support all efforts to make the United Nations, which it considers to be the cornerstone of multilateralism, the hope for humanity again, and to transform the international system into an effective structure based on the principles of justice, equality and solidarity, free from double standards.
We are determined to continue our concrete contributions to mediation, conflict prevention and peacekeeping, fight against terrorism, migration management, sustainability and environmental protection as well as to initiatives such as the Alliance of Civilizations, carried out under the umbrella of the Organization. The increasing presence of the UN in our country, especially in Istanbul, is another tangible manifestation of our enhanced cooperation with the UN.
With these thoughts, I congratulate October 24, the United Nations Day, commemorate respectfully the UN employees who lost their lives on duty, and wish that the 79th anniversary of the Organization be auspicious for all humanity.”