President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressed pleasure about seeing the Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour among fellow member-states, after a long struggle, on Tuesday.
The president said he hopes this is the last step toward Palestine's full U.N. membership as he reiterated his call to all countries to recognize Palestinian statehood.
An application to become a full U.N. member first needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly. If the measure is again voted on by the council it is likely to face the same fate: a U.S. veto.
The General Assembly resolution adopted in May does give the Palestinians some additional rights and privileges from September 2024 - like a seat among the U.N. members in the assembly hall - but they will not be granted a vote in the body.
The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012.
