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Member States:
The United Nations has 193 member states.
Türkiye’s Membership:
Türkiye is one of the founding members of the UN.
History of the Organization
With 193 members, the United Nations (UN) is today the
most universal international organization. It was
established in 1945 to prevent the repetition of wars
that broke out in the first half of the 20th century and to
eliminate threats to international peace and security.
The UN Charter, which is the UN’s founding agreement, was
signed by 50 countries including Türkiye on 26 June 1945
in San Francisco. As foreseen in the UN Charter, the UN
officially came into existence on 24 October 1945 Since
then, 24 October is annually celebrated as the UN Day.
The main organs of the UN are the General Assembly, the
Security Council (UNSC), the Economic and Social Council,
Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice
and the UN Secretariat.
Türkiye’s relations with the UN
Türkiye is a strong supporter the United Nations, which
lies at the center of multilateralism. Accordingly,
Türkiye spares no effort to make consistent and significant
contributions to the UN activities, in its three pillars,
namely peace and security, development and human rights.
Türkiye also supports the reform efforts to make the UN
more effective and efficient.
As a responsible and constructive actor of the
international system, Türkiye plays an active role in
various areas of the UN work, including conflict prevention,
mediation, peacekeeping, humanitarian diplomacy and
sustainable development.
The increasing multidimensional and strong collaboration
between Türkiye and the UN has resulted in more UN
agencies preferring Türkiye as a hub for their regional and
global activities in the recent years.
Furthermore, Türkiye is an ardent advocate of the
principles and objectives of the UN Charter as well as
being an important actor in contributing to the peaceful
settlement of international disputes through multilateral
cooperation. As such, during its latest non-permanent
membership in the UNSC for the term 2009-2010, Türkiye
stood out as an active, responsible, and reliable member of
the Council, exerting every effort to contribute to
various issues regarding international peace, security
and stability.
The balanced and constructive role played by Türkiye
concerning the crises and conflicts in its region and
beyond and the initiatives it has pioneered such as the
Black Sea Grain Initiative demonstrate the added value
Türkiye’s UNSC membership can bring to international
peace and security.
In this context, Türkiye has announced its candidacy for
the non-permanent membership to UNSC for the 2037-2038
term.
Also as a token of Türkiye’s significant role at the UN,
Ambassador Volkan Bozkır, former Minister for the EU
Affairs and Chief Negotiator, was elected as the
President of the 75 th UN General Assembly, a
position which he held from 14 September 2020 to 14
September 2021. The Presidency of the General Assembly is
the highest elected position in the UN and Mr. Bozkır became
the first Turk holding this position in the UN’s history.
Türkiye also supports the efforts of the UN for rendering
the global humanitarian system fairer and more effective.
In this regard, the first ever “World Humanitarian
Summit”, a personal initiative of former UNSG Ban Ki-moon,
was held in Istanbul under the auspices of H.E. Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, on
23-24 May 2016.
The Summit was held at the level of Heads of State and
Government and on a multi-stakeholder platform with the
participation of the representatives of international
organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia,
private sector and leaders from crisis-affected
communities. The Summit provided an opportunity to
address the outstanding issues in order to overcome
difficulties faced by the global humanitarian system.
During the Summit, all humanitarian actors made various
commitments regarding the future of the system and shared
their opinions and experiences.
Türkiye’s contribution to peacekeeping operations, which
constitute one of the most important tools of the
international community for the maintenance of
international peace and stability, represents another
important dimension of its cooperation with the UN.
Türkiye provides uniformed and civilian personnel to the
UN peacekeeping operations deployed in various parts of the
world, as well as making significant financial contributions
to the UN peacekeeping missions and peacebuilding
efforts.
Türkiye firmly believes that the UN should be reformed to
make it fit for today’s challenges and supports all the
steps taken for the better functioning of the UN system.
In this framework, Türkiye gives utmost importance to the
reform of the UN Security Council, which lies at the
heart of the reform efforts and aims to make the Security
Council more transparent, democratic, accountable and
representative.
The UN regular budget is financed through mandatory
contributions from the member states in accordance with
their economic capacities marked by several factors
including GDP, national income, debt burden, and
population. The assessed (mandatory) ratio is set by the
UN Committee of Contributors (CoC) for three years. The
ratio of Türkiye’s assessed contribution increased over
years and Türkiye has become one of the largest
contributors to the UN budget. Thus, in May 2014, Türkiye
has become a member of the Geneva Group, which is a
non-official group of like-minded countries focusing on
the efficiency of the UN as well as its administrative
and financial policies.
In line with the progress achieved in recent years in
Türkiye’s cooperation with the UN, transforming Istanbul
into a UN hub has become one of the main pillars of
Türkiye’s relations with the UN. İstanbul’s proximity to
Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East and
North Africa, as well as its vibrant economic, financial
and cultural life make İstanbul an ideal location for the UN
agencies for establishing their regional or global offices.
As of 2025, İstanbul hosts the following global and
regional UN offices:
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional
Office of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
- UN International Center for Private Sector and
Development of the UN Development Programme (UNDP),
- Regional Office of the UN Entity for Gender
Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN) for Europe
and Central Asia.
- UNDP’s Regional Service Centre for Europe and
Commonwealth of Independent States (UNDP-RSC),
- The Country-Regional Office of the UN
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
- World Health Organization (WHO) European
Centre for Preparedness for Humanitarian and Health
Emergencies
- The Office of United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
- UNDP Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC)
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional
Office of United Nations Volunteers (UNV)
- Regional Office of International Organization
for Migration (IOM)
- The Office of UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR)
- Regional Office of the UN Development
Coordination Office (UN-DCO)
Furthermore, Ankara hosts two global offices:
- Center for Regional Cooperation of United Nations
Industrial Development Office (UNIDO)
- Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Subregional
Office for Central Asia
Türkiye is also home to UN Technology Bank for Least
Developed Countries, which is based in Gebze, Kocaeli.
Türkiye believes that multilateralism is indispensable in
addressing global challenges and making the world a
better place for humanity. For this reason, Türkiye will
continue to actively engage in all efforts of the UN in all
its pillars.
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