Türkiye’s agenda last week was tied to global developments.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech at the United Nations, President of Parliament Numan Kurtulmuş’s visit to Russia and Presidential Advisor Yiğit Bulut’s statements regarding Israel were the key topics.
President Erdoğan at the United Nations
President Erdoğan visited New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. In addition to delivering a speech at the General Assembly, Erdoğan met with numerous leaders.
During his address to the General Assembly, Erdoğan emphasized the issue of Palestine:
“I am pleased to see the representative of our dear brotherly Palestine among the member states of the United Nations after long struggles. I hope that this historic step will be the final milestone on the path to Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations. I call upon the countries that have yet to recognize Palestine to stand on the right side of history in this critical period and recognize the Palestinian state without further delay.”
He continued:
“Many of the crises you, dear representatives, witness on your screens, we experience and manage moment by moment. Therefore, today, I am speaking to you as the leader of a country at the heart of these tensions. Even if some are disturbed by this, even if some will target me again, today, from this common platform of humanity, I wish to openly discuss certain truths on behalf of humanity.”
Erdoğan reiterated his famous criticism of the United Nations Security Council’s structure with the phrase, “The world is bigger than five”:
“With the founding of the United Nations, expectations for global stability, peace, justice, and harmony began to flourish. However, we sadly observe that the United Nations has increasingly failed to fulfill its founding mission in recent years. It has turned into a dysfunctional and cumbersome structure. The values represented by the slogan ‘The world is bigger than five’ are needed now more than ever.”
President Erdoğan continued by stating that international peace and security are too important to be left to the whims of the five privileged countries. He emphasized that the most dramatic example of this is the ongoing massacre in Gaza, which has lasted 353 days. Erdoğan noted that over 41,000 Palestinians have lost their lives since Israel’s attacks began on October 7, 2023, with nearly 100,000 people injured or disabled.
Then Erdoğan addressed the Western world, stating:
“Hey, human rights organizations, aren’t the people in Gaza and the West Bank human? Don’t the children in Palestine have the right to read, to live, to play in the streets? Hey, international media outlets, the journalists that Israel killed live on air, whose offices were raided, aren’t they your colleagues? Hey, United Nations Security Council, what are you waiting for to stop the genocide in Gaza, to say ‘enough’ to this barbarism? Hey, those who unconditionally support Israel, how much longer will you bear the shame of watching this massacre and being complicit in this?”
Erdoğan likened Netanyahu to Hitler:
“Just as Hitler was stopped by the alliance of humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must also be stopped by the alliance of humanity. We believe that the General Assembly should make use of its power to recommend the use of force, as outlined in the 1950 ‘Uniting for Peace’ resolution. An immediate and permanent ceasefire must be established, hostage-prisoner exchange must be done, and humanitarian aid must be delivered to Gaza without obstruction or interruption.”
President of Parliament Kurtulmuş in Moscow
While President Erdoğan was visiting New York for the United Nations meeting, the President of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Numan Kurtulmuş made a three-day visit to Moscow. During his visit, Kurtulmuş held meetings with several Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting between Kurtulmuş and Putin lasted approximately 40 minutes.
Kurtulmuş stated that they had a busy and productive program over the three days and that they had fruitful discussions with Valentina Matviyenko, Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia, and Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia. Kurtulmuş shared the following details:
“One of our most important meetings in Moscow was this morning’s meeting at the Federation Council General Assembly. There we had the opportunity to briefly convey Türkiye’s perspectives. We are in a very close relationship that began with the exceptionally sincere and friendly relations between the two state leaders of Türkiye and Russia. During this period, all of our state institutions must adapt to this cooperation. We reaffirmed during our meetings that Türkiye’s relations with Russia are close not only in areas like trade but also in sectors such as energy, defense industry and tourism. We also have similar approaches to major global issues.
We were especially pleased to confirm once again that Türkiye and Russia share similar views on the major crisis in the Middle East, particularly regarding Israel’s attacks, which is not just a war against the Palestinian people but against all the people of the region. Additionally, we noted how close the two societies are in their views on traditional and family values. In my speech today, I emphasized once again that we have never supported nor endorsed the unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia.”
The Kremlin also made a statement regarding the meeting:
“We are very pleased with the development of our relations with the Republic of Türkiye in every field, including parliament.”
Putin also remarked, “I would like to point out that relations between Türkiye and Russia have been developing very successfully in nearly every area, including the economic and social sectors, as well as at the level of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Overall, we are good neighbors and work for the benefit of our peoples and countries, and everything is generally going well for us.”
Kurtulmuş also gave an interview to Russia’s official news agency, TASS. The key points of Kurtulmuş’s statements were as follows:
“Türkiye’s presence in BRICS will indeed make a much serious contribution to the cause of global peace. This is because Türkiye is a country that simultaneously participates in many formats of international cooperation.
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“It is also the country desirous to develop new alternative instruments of foreign policy. This will enrich Türkiye regarding foreign policy instruments, and we hope participation of Türkiye in such organization will promote the strengthening of global peace in conditions of the multipolar global system.
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Türkiye, having the geostrategic position, being the bridge between the East and the West, having the cultural past and prospects for the future, has entered the process of transformation into a regional actor and even into the actor playing an efficient role in the global system.”
Senior Presidential Adviser Bulut: Israel is preparing to attack Türkiye
Yiğit Bulut, one of the senior advisors to President Erdoğan, has claimed that Israel is planning to attack Türkiye in a short amount of time.
Bulut wrote on his social media that Israel would target Türkiye after launching strikes against Islamic holy sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Alongside Israel, Bulut drew attention to the US and England military build-up in Greece and Greek Populated Southern Part of Cyprus and implied that the target here is Türkiye too.
Bulut also called for Turkish citizens to be aware of the threat and suggested that S-400 missile systems are Türkiye’s key defense against a possible broader Western attack. In his post, Bulut defended Türkiye should break from the West and continue on its independent path, following with its application to join BRICS.
President Erdoğan, in his speech in the parliament after the start of Israel’s attack on Lebanon, said that Türkiye and Anatolian lands are also in Israel’s target. Erdoğan’s statements were widely echoed in the world press.