Türkiye's Directorate of Communications on Friday organized a panel in New York to highlight the necessity of reform in the U.N. Security Council.
During the discussions, a panel of academics and scholars stressed that the Security Council is in urgent need of reform to safeguard international security and peace, provide solutions to global conflicts and save lives. Organized by Türkiye's Directorate of Communications and titled "United Nations Security Council Reform: A New Approach to Reconstructing the International Order," the conference heard speeches from various senior scholars and academics well-versed in international relations who all see the need for the reform of global governance.
The discussion was moderated by Buğra Kanat, the Washington director of the Ankara-based Political, Economic and Social Research Foundation (SETA), at the Türkevi Center, also known as the Turkish House, in New York City.
Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group's U.N. director, aptly argued that the U.N. Security Council failed in devising a proper response to Russia's war on Ukraine, which began in February.
This shows that none of the five permanent members – the United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia – want radical reforms in the structure of the Security Council, he said.
Francisco Gutierrez, the undersecretary of Colombia's permanent representative to the U.N., remarked that reform of the council is inevitable to remain relevant and efficient in the contemporary world.
Ian Martin, a former U.N. special representative to Libya, asserted that the veto right of the five permanent members is a particularly problematic issue, adding that this right should be limited.
Jean-Marie Guehenno, a senior expert at Columbia University, praised the Turkish initiatives that advocate reform in the U.N.
"Now, the question is not whether the reform is needed or not, but how it will be done," he said.
Vasselin Popovski from Japan's Soka University stressed that Türkiye would play the leading role in the reform of the Security Council.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been questioning the unfair order, which gives a few leaders unchecked power, for many years, saying: "The world is bigger than five."
