On September 22nd local time, Turkish President Erdogan published an article in Bloomberg titled "Seeking Global Justice in a Changing World," calling for the United Nations to abolish the veto power of the Security Council.
Erdogan stated in the article that recent global crises indicate that the pace of adaptation of global decision-making mechanisms to changing circumstances cannot be delayed any longer.
He wrote: “Adding new privileged members to the Council of Ministers is not a solution for concentrating decision-making power in the hands of a few countries; rather, it would only further expand the structure of privilege.” Therefore, he proposed: “Abolishing the veto power should become the starting point and fundamental strategic goal for any meaningful reform.”
Turkey's President Erdogan wrote an article calling for the abolition of the veto power in the United Nations Security Council. Bloomberg
He was still calling for in the article...
"Within the United Nations General Assembly, a broad alliance should be established around the principle that 'No country should have the power to permanently obstruct the will of most members of the international community.' "
It is necessary to restore the balance between the Security Council and the General Assembly. The authority of the General Assembly should be strengthened, and the representation of the Security Council and its accountability to the General Assembly should be improved through the following structure: Members of the Security Council are elected by the General Assembly on a rotating basis, with fixed terms of office; countries seeking to serve again on the Security Council must regain the trust of the majority of member states through elections.
This is not the first time that Erdogan has made such calls.
For a long time, he has been using the slogan 'The world is more than five' to criticize the insufficient representation of the five permanent members of the Security Council who have veto power, arguing that their influence does not correspond to the current global reality.
As early as 2021, Erdogan expressed his dissatisfaction with the current situation of the United Nations and proposed to abolish the veto power of the five permanent members. In 2023, he reiterated this stance at the United Nations General Assembly, stating that the Security Council had become a stage for strategic confrontation by the five permanent members.
According to the United Nations Charter, any changes to the structure of the Security Council or the veto power system require approval by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly and must be approved by all five permanent members.
Erdogan's idea has long faced real obstacles. Russian President Putin explicitly rejected Erdogan's proposal in 2021.
In October 2011, at the annual meeting of the "Valdai International Debate Club" in Sochi, Russia, Putin said: "If we abolish the veto power of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, then the United Nations will become an 'international league', and it will cease to exist on the same day."
