By Adem Kılıç, Political Scientist
Especially since the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine, it is clear that the UN structure has completely lost its effectiveness in solving problems and ensuring peace in the world.
The structure of the United Nations Security Council, which was shaped according to the results of the Second World War, has turned into a system that ignores all other nations and countries and only “guarantees the absolute dominance of the victorious powers”.
The structure of the UN, which has been in place since 1945, has today become an organization that acts only in the interests of the US and the West, and has completely lost its moral superiority and ability to produce solutions.
The role and call of rising power Türkiye!
Aware of these realities, Türkiye, which has made a global impact with its motto “The world is bigger than 5”, is leading the international diplomatic movement to reform the UN executive bodies.
It is worth noting that Türkiye is supported by many countries, particularly African and South American countries and Germany, and that the thesis that the UNSC structure has lost its functionality in today’s global equation has found a response.
However, Türkiye’s strong historical memory, the fact that it is one of the founding members of the UN, and that it has brought this to the agenda of the world public opinion with a clear discourse reflects that new world dynamics make Türkiye a leading country in this regard.
In fact, Türkiye demonstrates the dimensions of its power by taking an active role in solving many problems in the world, which is the UN’s task.
By emerging as an active power in Libya, Syria, Bosnia, Palestine, Karabakh, Ethiopia-Somalia and most recently Sudan, Türkiye has clearly demonstrated the dysfunctionality of the UN structure and its own power.
However, Türkiye’s demand is not only about the right and level of representation in the Security Council.
Because the most important issue is to change the decision-making mechanism. Otherwise, there is no point in expanding continental and regional representation.
Türkiye has stated on every international platform that the UN General Assembly, in its current form, is nothing more than a global parliament where debates and complaints are voiced, that it cannot fulfill any legal obligations and that it does not have the power to implement its decisions.
Revising the structure
The UNSC reform proposal prepared by Türkiye was first put forward in 2013 and submitted to the 68th General Assembly of the UN. According to the model in question, it was proposed to increase the number of permanent members of the UNSC from the current five to eleven and the total number of members from fifteen to twenty-five.
In the following process, the position that it would be fairer to remove the veto barrier rather than increasing the number of permanent members was emphasized. Türkiye sees the insistence on increasing the number of permanent members in the UNSC as the main reason for the lack of progress in the reform process and believes that efforts to add permanent members with veto power to the UNSC erode the reform debate.
This position stands out as an important approach, as it is clear that the veto powers of the current permanent members are the raison d’être of calls for reform. When we analyze the voting mechanism in the Security Council, we see that procedural matters are decided with the approval of nine out of fifteen members, but when it comes to non-procedural matters, permanent member states must be among these nine votes and have the right to object to any decision by using their veto power.
This shows that there is no principle of equality of sovereignty among states.
It is absolutely unacceptable that such a dangerous power to shape international relations, peace and war should be in the hands of five permanent member states, especially when it is held hostage by the interests of the dominant power in the world, the United States.
In addition, these “great powers” have the sole authority, through the Council’s recommendation to the General Assembly, to expel any member state that repeatedly violates the principles of the organization’s Charter.
This allows the massacres of countries like Israel, which enjoys American protection, despite all the crimes against humanity it commits.
Figures show that Washington used its veto 114 times between 1945 and the end of 2023. This includes 80 times blocking condemnation of its ally Israel and 34 times opposing support for the Palestinian people.
The UN Security Council is also responsible for developing plans to regulate armaments worldwide and for taking measures to implement the judgments of the International Court of Justice.
However, the UN has been blocked by the US from implementing the rulings of the Hague Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
All this shows that the US and its Western partners, who are permanent members, see themselves as the judges of the world, above the law.
It is therefore inevitable that the UN and its most important organ, the Security Council, must be reformed through a strong international movement, as Türkiye is now calling for.
As long as the UN and its structure continue to serve the interests of US-led global capitalism, it has become impossible to achieve justice in the world.