Columnist assesses Turkey’s diplomacy at the UN General Assembly — Anadolu Agency

In New York, Anadolu Agency columnist Klaus Jurgens assessed Turkey’s participation in the 81st session of the UN General Assembly as an example of a “360-degree” approach to foreign policy. In his view, Ankara seeks to reform the UN rather than abolish it. The author referred to the position of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who says that “the world is bigger than five.”

Erdogan’s statements

According to Jurgens’s account, Erdogan said in his speech that it was unfair that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was not invited to speak in person and was instead given the opportunity to address the assembly via video link. The Turkish president also mentioned Myanmar, Darfur, Ukraine, Palestine and Lebanon, calling the past 30 years the bloodiest.

The columnist writes that Erdogan cited 74,000 deaths in Gaza, mostly women and children, and also said that the UN had become incapable of functioning. Among other topics of the speech, the author named income inequality, the development of road, transport and energy infrastructure in regions where it is lacking, as well as Turkey’s role in European security and its defense industry.

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Meetings in New York

The column notes that on the sidelines of the General Assembly, Erdogan held meetings with the leaders of Poland, Japan, Bangladesh, Senegal and Qatar, as well as with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The author also mentioned the Turkish president’s meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Jurgens separately mentioned COP31 in Antalya and a proposal for a Turkish director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. At the end of the column, he expressed the view that UN reform requires more states acting similarly to Turkey. Anadolu Agency notes that the author’s views may not coincide with the agency’s editorial policy.