UN Security Council must reform, Türkiye’s communications chief tells panel in Madrid

By Merve Berker

ANKARA (AA) – The structure of the UN Security Council cannot stand in its current form, Türkiye’s communications chief told a special panel in Madrid on Monday.

The “unjust structure” of the UN Security Council with its five permanent members “must change, and comprehensive reform is needed," Fahrettin Altun said in a video message to a panel on “UN Security Council Reform: A New Approach to the Reconstruction of the International Order."

The UN is far from meeting the expectations of the international community, its credibility and reputation are eroding, and it does not produce solutions, Altun added.

Sergio Garcia-Magarino from Spain’s Public University of Navarre said the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war shows how much countries depend on other countries for oil, food, and other needs.

"No country can fight alone against new challenges and global problems. It is necessary to act globally,” he told the panel, which was moderated by Turkish political scientist Ismail Erkam Sula.

“Although it is the UN, we have seen that there is no structure to mediate. They find it difficult to conduct multi-state politics because purely national interests continue to outweigh. We need a collaborative system,” he stressed.

"The main goal of the UN is to protect international security and peace, but it is a fact that it cannot produce a solution in today's history,” said Ipek Tekdemir, a strategic communications and political advisor to the European Parliament.

“We have seen that the UN has failed to punish the perpetrator of atrocities, especially in the Russia-Ukraine war,” she added.

“If the UN continues to be dysfunctional and useless, it will not be able to face global dangers such as climate change and nuclear armaments.”

Jose Ventura Ballester, senior analyst at the Spanish Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, also underlined that the UN Security Council has now "turned into an advisory board or a forum" instead of producing solutions, which was its initial goal.

"The UN is unable to respond to conflict of interests and the protection of borders,” he stressed. “There are a lot of questions and doubts about the structure of the UN, the veto system, the decision-making mechanism.”

“We can make the UN more democratic because we know the world is bigger than five. We have to find more inclusive and common solutions," he said, alluding to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s motto for Security Council reform: “The world is bigger than five.”