'Türkiye’s calls for reforms have become voice of oppressed, global conscience': Communications chief

Türkiye's communications director on Saturday said that his country’s calls for reforms have become the voice of oppressed people and the global conscience.

“We exert intensive efforts on every platform to establish a fairer, more equitable, more peaceful, and more stable world order. We support steps aimed at improving the functioning of the United Nations system," Burhanettin Duran said on Saturday.

He was speaking at a panel titled The Search for Justice in the International System, which was held at the Turkevi Centre (Turkish House) in New York.

The panelists discussed alternatives to the current UN Security Council system, stalled by the way its five permanent members (the P5) exercise their veto powers.

According to a statement from the directorate, Duran addressed participants via video message and emphasized that the UN has achieved significant successes since its founding in 1945 in its core objectives – maintaining global peace and security and promoting international cooperation.

He highlighted that Türkiye is a strong supporter and advocate of the values represented by the UN and the principle of multilateralism, underlining the country’s consistent and substantial contributions to peace, security, development, and human rights efforts.

"Ongoing conflicts and tensions in various regions, especially the Middle East, massive migration waves displacing millions of people, the increasing impact of the climate crisis, as well as Islamophobia and ethnic and religious discrimination continue to pose significant tests to the current international system," he continued.

Duran cited the tragedy and destruction caused by Israel in Gaza over the past two years as one of the harshest examples of the system’s injustice and malfunction.

"In the face of Israel’s occupation policies, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, the United Nations has proven insufficient in fulfilling its founding mission and has become an increasingly dysfunctional and cumbersome structure," he said.

The communications director pointed to the UN Security Council’s veto power held by permanent members and the lack of fair representation as reasons for the council’s inaction, noting that the UN remained passive in the face of such atrocities.

Duran emphasized that the UN requires serious reform to address challenges and crises and to adapt to a global order suited to the demands of our era.

He further stressed that the key concept to be addressed alongside UN reform is justice.

"For this reason, we titled our panel ‘The Search for Justice in the International System,’ Acting on our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s motto that ‘a fairer world is possible,’ Tükriye seeks to fulfill its responsibilities. We exert intensive efforts on every platform to establish a fairer, more equitable, more peaceful, and more stable world order, and we support steps aimed at improving the functioning of the United Nations system," he said.

Duran highlighted that Türkiye advocates for the restructuring of international institutions and organizations based not on the interests of certain countries but on fundamental principles such as justice, peace, and stability, saying: "Türkiye’s calls for reforms have become the voice of the oppressed and global conscience."

He underlined that Türkiye will continue to play a pioneering and constructive role in establishing a system centered on justice, security, and stability for all.

"As President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasizes, we will continue our efforts to build ‘a system where the rightful is strong, not the strong is right.’"

Duran warned that a system unable to learn lessons from crises cannot endure for long, saying: "Today, our task is to transform the destruction caused by crises into lasting solutions based on justice."

He concluded by emphasizing that there can be no peace without justice, and no sustainable future without peace, underlining that Türkiye contributes to building a justice-centered global order in which the rightful prevail over the powerful.