President Erdoğan: UN a burden on humanity

ANKARA

AA Photo

The United Nations is “a burden on humanity” due to its “unfair structure” and decision-making power, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said in a speech in Ankara, also taking the opportunity to slam the U.S. and the EU.

The U.N. Security Council was established to guarantee human rights and eliminate injustice but today it fails to carry out these duties, Erdoğan said at a science and technology conference on Oct. 3.

Noting that “there are no Muslim member-states in the U.N. Security Council,” he said permanent membership of the UNSC should be increased from 10 to 20, 10 of which rotate every two years, so that all 193 countries take an equal turn.

Erdoğan also slammed the U.S. for dragging its heels on extraditing Pennsylvania-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen, who he said has “lived in luxury on 400,000 square meters of land for 17 years.” 

“We don’t look for a court ruling whenever the U.S. asks us for [the extradition of] a terrorist. But we have not seen the same from our partner,” he said, referring to Washington’s stance on Gülen, who is accused of being behind Turkey’s failed military coup attempt of July 15.

Erdoğan also stated that “obstacles from the U.S. and Israel” ironically paved the way for Turkey to produce its own drones. He said that whenever Ankara has asked Washington to purchase drones, obstacles are thrown up in the U.S. Congress. “We are strategic partners, are we not?” he said.

Recently, Turkey purchased 10 drones from Israel but Ankara has faced problems in repairing them, Erdoğan also said, adding that such problems led Turkey “to produce our own unmanned drones to be used with ammunition.” 

The Turkish president also blasted the European Union for “failing to keep its promise” on humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees hosted in Turkey, saying that out of the 3 billion euros promised by Brussels, only 179 million euros have arrived so far.

Although the issue of refugees was brought up at the recent session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, nobody properly embraces them, he said, while vowing that Turkey will continue to fulfill its humanitarian duties “regardless of whether the EU keeps its promise or not.”