The Israeli delegation to the UN walked out of the chamber whilst the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan harshly criticised Israel for the atrocities committed in Gaza during his speech at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York.
The Turkish president addressed the UN General Assembly in New York, where he devoted much of his speech to denouncing the situation in Gaza and drawing the international community’s attention to the consequences of the Israeli offensive.
Erdoğan emphasised that Gaza has become the world’s largest graveyard and has the highest rate of amputees on the planet, and therefore called on the international community not to remain silent in the face of what he described as an inhuman massacre, according to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.
Erdogan calls for urgent reform of the United Nations
During his speech on 22 September, the President of Turkey also called for a far-reaching reform of the UN, arguing that the organisation can no longer fulfil its mission of ensuring peace and security in the world. In this regard, he reiterated – as he has been doing for years – the urgent need to reform a Security Council dominated by five permanent members with veto power, which has proven itself incapable and ineffective.
“If we truly wish to boost confidence in the United Nations, it is clear what needs to be done… The Security Council must be reformed in full accordance with the principle that ‘the world is bigger than 5’,” Erdoğan insisted before the General Assembly in New York.
In this regard, the Turkish leader cited the conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, Myanmar, Darfur, Iran and Lebanon as examples of the shortcomings of the international system, pointing out that in the last year alone there have been more than 60 wars.
“In Gaza alone, over the past three years, 74,000 of our brothers and sisters — the majority of whom were children and women — have fallen victim to Israel’s state terrorism. The people of Gaza are still searching for their loved ones amongst the rubble,” he declared. “What this scene tells us – and it should send a shiver down all our spines – is this: the United Nations, which was established 81 years ago to safeguard peace and security, is no longer capable of fulfilling this task, or rather, it has been prevented from doing so,” Erdoğan told the Assembly.
“Gaza is today the world’s largest children’s cemetery”
Erdoğan also denounced the fact that the Israeli government continues to violate the ceasefire despite the agreement reached in 2025. “Gaza is not only the world’s largest children’s graveyard today. It is also the region with the highest rate of child amputees in the world. Gaza is the most inhumane and shameful concentration camp of our time,” he asserted.
The Turkish president also had no qualms about criticising the absence of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas from the General Assembly for the second consecutive year after the US once again denied him a visa on grounds of “national interest”, and called on countries that have not yet recognised the Palestinian State to do so.
As Erdoğan delivered his harsh words and criticism of Israel for its actions in Gaza —particularly the thousands of victims killed who were nothing but children and babies —members of the Israeli delegation to the UN walked out of the General Assembly chamber so as not to listen to his speech and as a sign of protest.
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
