On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), claiming that it has become a “protector of Israel” due to Washington’s influence. This came after the United States blocked a resolution asking for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza.
“No decision was reached due to the US veto.” “Reforming the UN Security Council is critical,” Erdogan said during his speech at the World Human Rights Day event in Istanbul.
The Turkish president stated that the world goes beyond the five permanent members of the UN Security Council with veto power: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Expressing disappointment in the UNSC, Erdogan, despite Türkiye being a NATO ally of the US, said, “We have lost our hope and expectation from the UN Security Council.”
Erdogan asserted that since October 7, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initiated attacks on Gaza in response to an incursion by the Palestinian armed group Hamas that killed at least 1,200 people, the UNSC, “whose mission is to establish global peace, has turned into a protector of Israel.”
“The Israeli government, with the unshakable support of Western countries, is perpetrating terrible atrocities and massacres in Gaza that would make any human blush… A fair world is feasible, but not with America, because America supports Israel,” Turkish President Erdogan maintained.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli activities in the last two months have killed 17,700 individuals and injured 48,800 more.
After a week-long humanitarian halt with Hamas ended, Israel resumed its military attack in Gaza on December 1. On Friday, the United States rejected a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, 13-1, with the United Kingdom abstaining.
US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood justified the move, stating that a halt in fighting would allow Hamas to maintain control of Gaza and “only plant the seeds for the next war.” Wood emphasized Washington’s preference for a “durable peace” based on a two-state solution, but he argued that Hamas has “no desire” for such an outcome.
