Erdogan bemoans ‘failure of international security institutions’

International security authorities are undermined by the crisis in Ukraine, according to Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish head of state deplored the ineffectiveness of these structures, particularly criticizing the UN Security Council and the influence of its five permanent members at a political forum in Istanbul.

“The Russian-Ukrainian crisis has shown the failure of institutions. What happened confirms the correctness of our assertion that ‘the world is not just five countries’ [ the permanent members of the UN Security Council]. Voices around the world question the relationship between politics and economy, between politics and security,” said Erdogan.

The Turkish leader had already castigated the role allocated to the five permanent members of the Security Council in the past, even claiming that the other elected members had “no influence” at the end of 2019.

The issue of Security Council reform has however been debated for over 40 years.

The state of affairs favors the interests of the West, as it maintains the upper hand in the United Nations, according to Alfred de Zayas, former Swiss expert on the organization. By applying double standards, Western countries have perpetrated aggressions against various countries.

“It is too obvious that the aggressions of the United States and other NATO countries in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, in Libya and Syria have resulted in serious violations of the Charter of the United Nations. And this without them ever being condemned for these facts,” he said. “It is weird that President Biden complains about the use of the veto by Russia and China, while the United States has abused the veto power in more than 80 cases, primarily to defend the indefensible.”

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council ( Russia, United States, China, Great Britain, France ) have a right of veto, allowing any resolution to be blocked, whatever the majority opinion in the Council.