"The world is bigger than five." "A fairer world is possible." These are the slogans President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly been using in the past years in his struggle for reforming the United Nations. The Turkish leader reiterated them as he addressed a World Human Rights Day event in Istanbul over the weekend.
Erdoğan's call followed a session of the United Nations Security Council where the United States, a backer of the Netanyahu administration in its brutal massacre of civilian population in Palestinian enclave Gaza, vetoed a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.
"Due to a veto by the U.S., no decision was reached. It is essential for the U.N. Security Council to be reformed,” Erdoğan told the event on Saturday.
"We have lost our hope and expectation from the U.N. Security Council,” he said. "Since Oct. 7, the U.N. Security Council, whose mission is to establish global peace, has turned into a protector of Israel."
Israel resumed its military offensive on the Gaza Strip on Dec. 1 after the end of a week-long humanitarian pause with the Palestinian group Hamas.
Around 17,500 Palestinians have been killed in the besieged enclave in Israeli air and ground attacks since the offensive by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Erdoğan stressed that the Israeli government, backed by the full support of the West, is committing atrocities and massacres in Gaza that shame humanity as a whole. The "butchers of Gaza” must be held accountable for crimes against humanity, Erdoğan said, adding that they will be held accountable "sooner or later.”
He said a fair world is possible, but not with the U.S. because it sides with Israel.
The Turkish president said the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights is being blatantly violated in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.
"We see the declaration as a cornerstone of humanity's dignified struggle for life, even though it has not been able to put an end to human rights violations. We believe that the declaration has made significant contributions to the creation of global awareness regarding the protection and improvement of human rights,” Erdoğan further said.
Stressing the "undeniable reality” that Dec. 10 Human Rights Day is observed in many parts of the World even as human rights are trampled upon, Erdoğan said: "Islamophobia and xenophobia, like a poisonous vine, stand at the forefront of threats to human rights, entwining Western societies."
"The majority of those most affected by xenophobic, racist, discriminatory and fascist practices are undoubtedly Muslims, who make up the majority of immigrants. The terms 'terrorist' and 'terrorism' have been turned into a guise for attacking Islam, demeaning Muslims, and massacring the innocent,” Erdoğan added.
President Erdoğan reiterated that attacks on places of worship, business centers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and associations belonging to Muslims have been increasing day by day.
"The tragicomic aspect of the issue is that all of this happens in countries marketed as the cradle of democracy and human rights. Perhaps there has never been a time when the gap between words and actions has widened so much. Those who do not leave a trace of ash in the grill when it comes to talking are, in practice, writing a veritable book on double standards, lack of principles, and hypocrisy. Apparently, these countries believe that the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations (U.N.) are only applicable to those they deem acceptable humans,” the president maintained.
"In their view, non-Western and non-white individuals have no real opportunity to fully benefit from these rights, or in some cases, any opportunity at all. Without explicitly stating it, they reveal the warped mindset of the West by turning a blind eye to cultural racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia,” he added.
Erdoğan also said that Türkiye will resolutely continue to fight against the PKK terrorist group. "We will not let go of the struggle against these lowlifes who have been shedding blood, spilling the blood of our citizens, without throwing them into the trash bin of history," he concluded.
