President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 22 September 2026. Erdoğan called for the abolition of permanent membership and the veto system on the UN Security Council.
Erdoğan said: “Let’s admit that a structure where the will of more than 190 countries is subject to the whims of five countries is neither fair, nor can it fully establish trust.”
The bulk of the speech was devoted to Gaza. Erdoğan said: “Gaza is not only the world’s largest cemetery for children today. It also has the highest rate of child amputees in the world.” He called on member states to put more pressure on Israel.
According to Euronews, the Israeli delegation left the hall during Erdoğan’s speech; Sabah’s account of the same moment differs, so the two reports are not fully consistent. The same coverage said the Kremlin responded to the call to abolish the veto with a markedly different approach.
Erdoğan also said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been unable to attend the General Assembly hall for two years. He said disputes in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean should be resolved under international law, and repeated Turkey’s proposal for an Eastern Mediterranean Conference.
Date, location and the call to abolish the veto: reported separately by Euronews’ Turkish-language service, Sabah and Yeni Şafak. Euronews reported the Israeli delegation walked out during the speech; Sabah’s account of the same moment differs, so this detail carries some uncertainty. The full transcript and Israel’s official response had not been published at the time of writing.