'No coup in any country will get support from UN'

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) – There will be no UN support for military coups, no matter what country this may happen in, said the president of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.

"Speaking for the UN, I can assure you that during my presidency no military coup in any country will be supported," Volkan Bozkir told lawmakers in the Turkish parliament.

On day two of an official visit to his home country, Bozkir said that he was concerned about the situation in Myanmar since the military in the Southeast Asian country seized control on Feb. 1.

The UN has "called for the military coup to be condemned and for the elected prime minister and leader there to be quickly released," he said.

Myanmar’s army seized power on Feb. 1, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and ending the country’s brief experiment with democratic rule.

A civil disobedience campaign with mass demonstrations and sit-ins has been met by deadly force.

Bozkir said due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is facing the deepest global economic contradiction since the Great Depression.

The world will face an important situation after the pandemic, Bozkir said.

"We should not only get rid of the pandemic, but also should plan what we will do in the period after the pandemic, and should decide which countries to prioritize," he said.

He added: “More than 115 million people are in danger of falling into extreme poverty and starvation.”