President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the 69th United Nations General Assembly on 24 September 2014.

In his speech, President Erdoğan expressed Turkey’s position on a variety of regional and global issues ranging from UN Security Council reform to climate change, from developments in Iraq and Syria to the Palestine problem.

Emphasizing that in a period of increased regional conflicts during which many civilian and innocent lives are lost, UN is not able to fulfill its functions, President Erdoğan said “The fact that 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council is rendering it ineffective is not an acceptable situation for the global conscience”.

Reminding that the 69th term of UN General Assembly is carried out at the centennial of the World War I, President Erdoğan said: “We regret to observe that although a century has passed, the geography which staged the World War I still lacks stability, peace and prosperity. A wide geography, from Iraq to Syria, from Palestine to Yemen, from Egypt to Libya, from Afghanistan to Ukraine, is in deep crisis and witnessing events that hurt human conscience.

Touching upon the recent developments in Iraq, President Erdoğan stated that the crisis in Iraq has affected all the countries of the region directly and Turkey in particular. He said: “We maintain our hope that Iraq will make a fresh start with the newly formed government. Turkey will stand beside the Iraqi population for peace and stability”.

President Erdoğan concluded his speech by stating that Turkey is expecting support from other countries for her candidature to the UN Security Council for the term 2015-2016.

For detailed information: www.tccb.gov.tr