Jean-Pierre Lacroix, United Nations under-secretary-general for peace operations, says Türkiye plays an important role in training peacekeepers and the U.N. is looking forward to enhancing cooperation with the country in this field.
Lacroix spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA) in Türkiye, where he attended an international forum, months after his visit to Ankara, where he met Turkish officials on peacekeeping operations. He said Türkiye made double contributions to their operations, both as a trainer and by deploying peacekeeping troops.
He said the current conflicts across the world were more connected and had global consequences and to deal with them, the international community needed a collective approach. “Multilateralism is certainly of critical importance but member states need to exhibit a strong will and resolution to actively support the efforts for peace. Türkiye is among those countries demonstrating that will,” he said. Lacroix noted that every crisis also had actors working for peace, “a few countries with special influence,” and noted that Türkiye was among them as it was in the past.
He pointed out that conflicts today have become more complex than in the past, saying, “We also need to adapt our existing peace operations to current conditions and be prepared to establish new peace operations that are quite different from those created 50 to 60 years ago.” However, Lacroix said the most critical factor was not new models but the political will of member states, stressing the importance of providing the necessary financial resources as well. Lacroix said the U.N. system had previously succeeded in developing different types of peace operations and had the capacity to do so in the future.
Addressing questions over the effectiveness of U.N. peace operations, Lacroix said many countries, including Cambodia, East Timor, Angola, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Liberia and El Salvador, had regained stability with the support of peace operations.
Lacroix also addressed attacks targeting U.N. peacekeeping personnel, saying that despite all the challenges, peacekeepers protect hundreds of thousands of civilians every day and help prevent cease-fires from collapsing.
Noting that the safety of peacekeeping personnel was frequently put at risk and that the obligation to protect them was being violated, Lacroix said such incidents required a strong response. “Crimes committed against peacekeeping personnel must be held to account,” Lacroix said.
Lacroix welcomed the adoption by the U.N. Security Council, following an initiative by Pakistan and Denmark, of a resolution calling for accountability for crimes committed against peacekeeping personnel. He added that peacekeepers serve the cause of peace and people, and therefore deserve to be respected.
