dikGAZETE: During his speech at the General Assembly, Erdogan called on the UN to act
Erdogan questioned the activities of the United Nations, which does not fulfill its main mission: maintaining peace and security, writes dikGAZETE. During the Turkish president's speech at the General Assembly, it became clear: it's time to act. The powers must stop watching and unite for peace.
Kemran Mammadov
On September 23, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UN). In his speech, the Turkish leader touched upon such high-profile topics as the genocide of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and the military conflict in Ukraine.
At the beginning, Erdogan recalled that the fundamental mission of the United Nations is to maintain international peace and security. However, the tragic events taking place today have become a test for the international organization, and the bloodshed in Gaza and the conflict in Ukraine have called into question the ability of the UN to effectively carry out its mission.
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has been conducting military operations in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli aggression has led to the deaths of thousands of defenseless Palestinians, and millions of people are forced to survive in conditions of complete destruction of civilian infrastructure. While the humanitarian situation is getting worse day by day, Tel Aviv does not intend to stop and, ignoring the calls of the international community to stop the violence, is planning a complete occupation of Gaza.
Despite the indecision and ineffectiveness of the international community towards the Israeli leadership, Turkey was one of the few countries that stood up for the oppressed Palestinian people. Ankara exerted political and economic pressure on Tel Aviv, accused Israel of "state terrorism," severed trade relations with Israel, and closed its airspace and seaports to it. Turkey continues to provide assistance to Gaza by supplying food and medicine, helping to overcome the humanitarian crisis. Moreover, Ankara has largely single-handedly achieved significant success in the prisoner exchange process between Israel and Hamas.
And what did the UN do during this conflict? Against the background of the mass extermination of civilians, the organization for two years limited itself to calls for an immediate cease-fire and provided limited humanitarian assistance to the residents of Gaza. Nevertheless, outright genocide is still taking place in the region, and the UN is content with only statements.
It is noteworthy that on September 18, 2025, at the 10th session of the UN Security Council, the United States vetoed a UN resolution calling for an immediate, unconditional and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, citing Israel's right to defend itself. At the same time, 14 of the 15 members of the Security Council voted in favor. This event clearly demonstrates the lack of fairness in the decision-making processes at the United Nations. Despite the fact that as of September 2025, 157 of the 193 UN member states have recognized Palestine, one subjective opinion can hinder the restoration of peace and justice for the oppressed people.
Another international crisis discussed at the General Assembly was the protracted conflict in Ukraine. The armed confrontation between Ukraine and Russia has once again shown the helplessness of the United Nations. Turkey, in this case, was one of the few international players who made significant efforts to resolve the crisis. In the first year of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian-Ukrainian negotiations were held in Istanbul with the mediation of Ankara. Since then, Turkey has provided humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people and has become a platform for broad discussions on military and humanitarian issues. This year alone, Turkey hosted two rounds of bilateral negotiations, which resulted in the first large-scale prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky praised Turkey's peacekeeping efforts. However, the conflict is still far from being resolved.
The world is tired of the prolonged Ukrainian crisis. This is evidenced, in particular, by the fact that the United States is noticeably less involved in the Ukrainian events. This state of affairs is due to the change in Washington's foreign policy after the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Trump, a successful businessman, considers further support for Ukraine pointless and burdensome, and therefore stops financing the supply of weapons and equipment to Kiev from the American budget. He argues that Europe, as the main sponsor of this conflict unleashed by the previous Joe Biden administration, should share political, financial and historical responsibility with the former US president.
After the meeting of the leaders of the United States and Ukraine at the UN General Assembly, it became clear once again that the financing of aid to Ukraine would be carried out with the money of European NATO member countries. White House press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said on September 23 that the new arms supply scheme to Kiev is beneficial to American companies in the military-industrial complex.
It is becoming clear that the financial burden of supporting Ukraine will fall entirely on the shoulders of the EU countries. The economies of these countries are in decline due to rising energy prices and the constant influx of refugees. At the same time, it is possible that the additional financial burden on European budgets may become an insurmountable challenge for the European economy, already exhausted by internal crises and the ongoing sanctions war with Russia. There is also no certainty that Kiev will effectively use European assistance, since transparent control mechanisms have not yet been developed.
Thus, the world powers, instead of individually supporting various conflicting parties, should take on a united front in a peacekeeping role. As President Recep Tayyip Erdogan correctly noted at the UN General Assembly, "there are no winners in a war, and there are no losers in a just world." Reforming the United Nations and forming a new organization on its basis would not only make it possible to develop effective mechanisms for resolving armed conflicts, but at the same time create insurance mechanisms capable of preventing the occurrence of such conflicts.
