Source: Republic of Turkey
ADDRESS TO THE 79TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
by
THE PRESIDENT of the REPUBLIC of TÜRKİYE,
H.E. RECEP TAYYİP ERDOĞAN
(24 SEPTEMBER 2024, NEW YORK)
Mr. President,
Distinguished Heads of State and Government,
Mr. Secretary General,
Esteemed Delegates,
I greet you with my most heartfelt feelings and respect on behalf of myself, my country and my nation.
I am very pleased to have the opportunity to address the United Nations General Assembly once again today.
I wish the 79th General Assembly to be beneficial to our countries and to all humanity.
I would like to congratulate Mr. Dennis FRANCIS, who has completed his Presidency of the General Assembly, and I wish success to Mr. Philemon YANG, who assumed this duty.
I would like to express our pleasure in seeing the Representative of the friendly and brotherly Palestine in the place he deserves among the member states, after lengthy struggles.
I wish this historic step to be the last stage on the way to Palestine’s membership in the United Nations.
I also invite other states, that have not yet done so, to recognize the State of Palestine as soon as possible and take their place on the right side of history at this very critical period.
Distinguished Delegates…
We are living through and trying to manage the crises minute by minute that most of my friends here watch on TV screens.
Therefore, I am addressing you today as the leader of a country that is not far from the tensions, but right in their epicentre.
Even if some feel uncomfortable, even if some will once again criticize us, I wish to speak out certain truths openly today, in the name of humanity, from the common rostrum of humanity.
Let’s consider… the United Nations, under whose roof we are now, was established to maintain international peace and security after the Second World War, during which millions of people lost their lives.
With the establishment of the United Nations, expectations for global stability, peace and justice blossomed again, and hopes for peace revived.
However, we observe with regret that in recent years, the United Nations is struggling to fulfill its founding mission and is gradually turning into a dysfunctional, unwieldy and inert structure.
We need the values represented by the maxim “THE WORLD IS BIGGER THAN FIVE”, more and more nowadays.
We witness that international peace and security are too important to be left to the arbitrariness of the “privileged five”.
The most dramatic example of this is the massacre that has been going on in Gaza for 353 days.
More than 41 thousand Palestinians have lost their lives in the ongoing Israeli attacks since October 7.
41 thousand people, 41 thousand lives brutally taken away, most of whom are children and women.
Similarly, the whereabouts of more than 10 thousand Gazans, most of whom are children, is unknown.
In the same way, about 100 thousand people have been injured and become disabled.
172 journalists have been killed while trying to do their job under difficult conditions.
More than 500 paramedics working to save lives have been killed.
Humanitarian aid workers and more than 210 United Nations personnel, who rushed to the rescue of the people of Gaza struggling with hunger and thirst, have been killed.
They hit 820 mosques and 3 churches that should be protected even at war.
They hit tens of hospitals, hundreds of schools, and more than 130 ambulances carrying patients.
By tearing down the Charter of the United Nations at the United Nations rostrum, they shamelessly challenged the whole world, all the conscientious people right from here, from this rostrum.
Friends…
The leaked images from the prisons that Israel has turned into “concentration camps” indicate very clearly what kind of persecution we are facing.
As a result of the Israeli attacks, Gaza has become the largest cemetery for children and women in the world.
More than 17 thousand children have been the targets of Israeli bullets and bombs.
HİND RAJAB was only 6 years old.
Their vehicle was hit by Israeli forces while she was searching for a safe place with her relatives.
Her uncle, aunt-in-law, and cousins all died, only she survived.
For 12 days she waited desperately to be rescued.
She waited for a helping hand to reach out to her for 12 days, saying, “WILL YOU COME TO PICK ME UP? I AM SCARED!”
Despite the level of development which our world has reached, despite the technology at our disposal; despite our organisations with huge budgets employing thousands of personnel under their roofs, unfortunately, as humanity of 8 billion, we have not been able to save a 6-year-old girl, an injured sparrow fluttering in front of our eyes.
Hundreds of Gazan children have died so far because they were not able to find a bite of dry bread, a sip of water or a bowl of soup, and they are still dying.
Not only children are dying in Gaza; the United Nations system is also dying, the truth is dying, the values that the west claims to defend are dying, the hopes of humanity to live in a fairer world are dying one by one.
I am asking you frankly from here…
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS!
Are the ones in Gaza, the ones in the West Bank not human beings?
The children in Palestine, do they not have the right to study, live, and play in the streets?
INTERNATIONAL PRESS ORGANISATIONS!
The journalists that Israel massacred on live TV, whose offices were raided, are they not your colleagues?
THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL!
What are you waiting for to prevent the genocide in Gaza and to say “stop” to this cruelty, this barbarism?
What more are you waiting for to stop the massacre network that endangers also the lives of its own citizens along with the Palestinian people and drags the entire region into war for the sake of its political prospects?
AND THOSE WHO UNCONDITIONALLY SUPPORT ISRAEL!
For how long will you continue to bear the shame of looking on this massacre, of being accomplices in this atrocity?
Distinguished Friends…
While children are dying in Gaza, Ramallah, Lebanon, and babies are dying in incubators, unfortunately, the international community has also given a very bad account of itself.
What is happening in Palestine is an indicator of a huge moral breakdown.
I believe that all the peoples of the world, leaders, international organisations should reflect on this painful picture.
I also want to hereby express a truth loud and clear.
Ignoring basic human rights, the Israeli government, is practicing ethnic cleansing, an overt genocide against a nation, a people, and occupying their territory step by step.
Palestinians, whose freedom, independence and the most basic rights have been usurped, are very rightly exercising their “LEGITIMATE RIGHT OF RESISTANCE” against this occupation and these ethnic cleansing activities.
The rightful resistance of the Palestinian people against those who occupy their land is too noble, honourable, heroic to be portrayed as illegitimate.
From here, I wholeheartedly salute once again my Palestinian brothers who defend their country at the cost of their lives.
The only reason for Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people is the unconditional support of a handful of countries to Israel.
The countries that have an influence over Israel are openly becoming accomplices of this massacre with the policy of “run with the hare, hunt with the hounds”.
Those who are supposedly working for a ceasefire in the limelight continue to send weapons and ammunition to Israel behind the stage, so that it can continue its massacres.
This is inconsistency and insincerity.
Please consider … there’s a document that has been going back and forth since May.
HAMAS has repeatedly declared its acceptance of the ceasefire proposal.
However, the Israeli government has very clearly indicated that it is the party that does not want peace by continuously hampering the process, constantly finding excuses, perfidiously killing the interlocutor it negotiated with at a time when the ceasefire was closest.
There should be no more credit given to Israel’s distraction and deception moves.
In an environment where United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735 is not being implemented, coercive measures against Israel should be put on the agenda.
Israel’s attitude has once again shown that it is essential for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians.
Just as HITLER was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by the “alliance of humanity”.
We believe that the power of the General Assembly to make recommendations on the use of force, as it exists in the “Uniting for Peace Resolution dated 1950”, should definitely be considered in this process.
An immediate and permanent ceasefire should be achieved, a hostage-prisoner exchange should be carried out, and humanitarian aid should be delivered to Gaza in an unhindered and uninterrupted way.
We have to extend a helping hand to the people of Gaza trying to survive, especially before winter when conditions will deteriorate.
Please consider, 70 percent of the water resources and 75 percent of the ovens in Gaza have been destroyed until now.
95 percent of health centres have been partially or completely damaged.
150 thousand houses were completely destroyed, 200 thousand houses were partially destroyed, 80 thousand houses became uninhabitable.
Infectious diseases, especially polio and hepatitis, are gradually increasing.
The people of Gaza can only reach a quarter of the amount of aid they need.
As Türkiye, we have maintained and are continuing to maintain our humanitarian aid activities for our Palestinian brothers since the first day.
With the amount of aid exceeding 60 thousand tons, Türkiye is the country that sends the highest amount of aid to Gaza.
In the same way, by stopping commercial transactions with Israel, we have demonstrated our sensitivity on this issue.
We also stand with the people and government of Lebanon, where Israel has stepped up its attacks in recent days.
Now we can all see this truth:
Our conscience cannot be at peace until those who massacred 41 thousand people are held accountable for the crimes they committed, from the person who gives the order to the ones who pull the trigger, and drop the bomb.
The bill for the billions of dollars of damage at the destroyed, wiped out, demolished cities must and will definitely be compensated by the perpetrators.
We support the lawsuit filed by the Republic of South Africa at the International Court of Justice to ensure that the crimes committed by Israel do not go unpunished.
We will take all necessary steps to ensure that justice is served in this case in which we have applied for intervention.
We will make every legal struggle to find justice for our daughter Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers during a peaceful protest in Nablus.
Although there is an urgent need for a ceasefire in Gaza, the main issue is the occupation of Palestinian territories by Israel.
Creation of an independent, sovereign and geographically contiguous Palestinian State on the basis of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital can no longer be delayed.
I would like it to be known that we are also closely following the increasing attacks against our first Qibla, Al-Masjid al-Aqsa and Al-Haram Al-Sharif.
While saying all this as Tayyip Erdoğan, I never speak with empty words from this rostrum.
Here, I am speaking with the courage that I get from my history and the conscientious and fair stance of my ancestors.
Because we are a nation that has always been on the side of the oppressed and stood against oppressor and tyranny throughout history.
We had welcomed the Jews who escaped from the inquisition 500 years ago and the Jews who escaped from Hitler’s concentration camps.
I tell it frankly; as a country and as a nation, we have no hostility towards the people of Israel.
We are against ANTI-SEMITISM in the same way that we are against the targeting of Muslims just because of their beliefs.
Our problem is with the policies of massacre of the Israeli government.
Our problem is again with the oppressor and tyranny, just as it was 5 centuries ago.
Everyone should know that we do not refrain from crying out the truth.
Even if some feel uncomfortable, we are not afraid to tell the truth.
Insha’Allah, we will continue to stand by the righteous until the end and speak of what we know as truth, even if it is harsh.
Hereby, I would also like to thank all the brave people who show solidarity with the Palestinian people without distinction of faith, country, language or religion, and raise their voice against the massacre in Gaza by filling the streets almost every week.
Distinguished Delegates…
Unfortunately, in the 14th year of the conflict, Syria is also still far from stability.
The economic and humanitarian situation in the country, which is in the grip of terrorist and separatist organizations remains dire.
We hope that the political process will be advanced and national reconciliation will be achieved on the basis of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.
We are determined to maintain our position in favour of a realistic dialogue with sincerity.
While our neighbour Iraq continues its struggle against terrorism, it is taking decisive steps towards development, reconstruction and reintegration with the region.
The international community should support these efforts of Iraq.
It is important in this context to implement initiatives that will benefit the entire region, such as the Development Road Project.
The success of all these efforts depends on the elimination of the terrorist threat in Iraq, especially from the PKK.
We believe that taking steps towards reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with our other neighbour Iran will contribute to the establishment of the environment of trust and stability in the region.
As the third year of the war in Ukraine comes to an end, we are still far from reaching a just and lasting peace.
As the armament race accelerates, the field of diplomacy is gradually narrowing.
We will further increase our support to the efforts to end the war through diplomacy and dialogue, on the basis of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
In this process, we will continue to meticulously implement the Montreux Convention.
We support the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and we hope that the work will be completed with good news as soon as possible.
We are also taking mutually positive steps on the Türkiye-Armenia track.
The developments that can be achieved in the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process will also have a positive impact on the Türkiye-Armenia normalization process.
Esteemed Friends…
We play a constructive role for the prosperity and peace of the Balkans, of which we are an integral part, and act in close cooperation with all actors in the region.
As a member of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council, we emphasize the importance of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity on every platform, and we continue to contribute to the EUFOR-ALTHEA Operation.
We successfully continue the KFOR command that we assumed last year and support the Belgrade-Prishtina Dialogue process.
We want to see the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean as a region of stability and prosperity where the legitimate interests of all parties concerned are respected.
The limitation of maritime jurisdiction areas in accordance with international law, freedom and safety of navigation, and the development of cooperation, especially on maritime trade issues, are to the common interest of the entire region.
Türkiye is ready for constructive cooperation on all issues, especially energy and environment.
We expect the same approach from our neighbours.
As the country with the longest coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, Türkiye’s key role is undeniable.
Türkiye has rights to the north and west of the Island of Cyprus in the declared continental shelf and Turkish Cypriots have rights all around the Island.
It has been 50 years since the Cyprus Peace Operation and 61 years since the Cyprus issue emerged as a result of the usurpation of the partnership state by Greek Cypriots.
From that day to this, peace and tranquillity have prevailed on the Island.
It has always been the Turkish Cypriots and Türkiye that have shown a sincere will to bring about a just, permanent and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue.
The federation model has now completely lost its validity.
There are two separate states and two separate peoples on the island.
The sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots, which are their inherent rights, should be reaffirmed, and the isolation should now come to an end.
Today, I once again call on the international community to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and establish with it diplomatic, political and economic relations.
We provide active support to the establishment of stability in Libya and the preservation of the unity and integrity of the country.
We call on all states to take a sincere stand by Libya during this sensitive period and to contribute to the establishment of trust between the parties.
We need to exert more efforts to end the conflicts in Sudan.
We all have a responsibility to deliver humanitarian aid to millions of Sudanese displaced due to conflicts.
Africa has a very huge potential with its young and dynamic population, rich natural resources and fertile extensive lands.
On the basis of the principles of equal partnership and mutual respect, we support the Continent’s peace, stability and development efforts with the African peoples.
We will continue to be in full solidarity with our African brothers and sisters.
We are deepening our engagement with regional organizations, such as the Indian Ocean Rim Association, the Pacific Islands Forum and particularly ASEAN.
We maintain our will to develop our relations with BRICS, which brings together emerging economies.
We share a deep-rooted history with the Central Asian countries; we further strengthen our cooperation on bilateral and multilateral grounds.
Our Organisation of Turkic States is increasingly turning into a centre of attraction.
The Organisation is becoming an exemplary model of cooperation, also with the contributions of observer members Hungary and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
As the Turkic world, we will further strengthen our unity and solidarity.
Within the framework of respect for China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we are in close dialogue with China to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Uighur Turks, with whom we have strong historical, cultural and human ties.
We are trying to advance the friendly ties we have established with all the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to a further stage.
Distinguished Delegates…
We are obliged to work together to eliminate global injustice.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ notion of “leave no one behind” is a guide for these efforts.
As one of the countries that provide the highest aid in proportion to its national income, Türkiye’s activities contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
We support the activities that will ensure fair, inclusive growth and development on all international platforms, especially within the G20.
We believe that all nations should benefit equally from the transformative power of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence.
The United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries that we host is a concrete manifestation of our efforts in this direction.
The “cyber terrorist attacks” perpetrated against Lebanon last week demonstrated how these technologies can at the same time turn into a fatal weapon.
We address climate change with a similar approach.
No country can cope with the emission reduction and adaptation process to climate change alone.
The most important issues for developing countries are financing, technology transfer and capacity building.
I believe that the COP29 Climate Summit to be held in Baku will contribute to the solution of these issues.
With the vision of a more sustainable and cleaner world, we have carried the Zero Waste Movement, which we launched under the auspices of my Spouse, Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, to a global level with the resolution co-sponsored by 105 countries and adopted unanimously at the United Nations General Assembly.
Hereby, I invite all countries, international organisations and non-governmental organisations to become partners in our movement.
We see that Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism are enveloping the world like a poison ivy.
Hardly a day goes by that we do not witness attacks on mosques and our holy book, the Holy Quran.
In the middle of Europe, people’s houses are being set on fire; their lives are being targeted; their most fundamental rights are being usurped because of their ethnic and religious identities.
No one can ignore this growing danger any longer.
As stipulated in the resolution adopted on 15 March 2024, we expect the appointment of a “Special Envoy for Combating Islamophobia” at the United Nations as soon as possible.
Distinguished Friends…
Today I would like to draw your attention once again to a danger that I raised at this rostrum last year.
The attacks against the family institution, which is the basic pillar of society, are intensifying.
The disgrace staged at the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games has revealed the dimensions of the threat we face as humanity.
A sports event followed by innocent children and hundreds of millions of people of all ages and faiths has been used, in a very ugly manner, for degenderization propaganda.
Those wicked scenes have deeply wounded not only the Catholic world, the Christian world, but also Muslims and everyone who respects the sacred.
The issue of desexualisation is now turning into a global imposition rather than a “preference”, literally a war against the sacred and the creation.
Anyone who raises a voice against this destruction project and shows the slightest reaction is silenced and becomes the target of lynching campaigns.
Türkiye is determined to break this siege and resist this climate of fear at all cost.
For this purpose, we became a member of the United Nations Group of Friends of the Family.
Insha’Allah, we will not hold back from defending the family, the human being and the creation in solidarity with other member states.
I invite the countries that share the same concerns with us to support this struggle.
With these thoughts, I wish that the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly will be beneficial for all humanity.
I salute you all once again with affection and respect.
May you all remain in good health…
