Turkiye Proposes Rotational UN Membership, Says Would Be ‘Proud’ To See India There

Amid India's push for reforms in the global bodies including the UN at the G20 Summit, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backed India for permanent UNSC seat, proposing a 'rotational' membership.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit on Sunday, Sept 10. ( Image Source :PTI )

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has proposed 'rotational' membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and said that Turkiye "would be proud" if a country like India gets a permanent berth at the UNSC, adding that the world is larger and bigger than five. According to PTI, Erdogan also called for a 'rotation' at the UNSC and said that all non-P5 members should have an opportunity to become members of the council.  This comes amid New Delhi's push for reforms in various global bodies.

"We would be proud if a country like India became a permanent member of the UN Security Council. As you know, the world is bigger and larger than five," he was quoted as saying by PTI.

Erdogan was responding to a question over P5 or five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russia, the UK and the US. He said the "world is bigger and larger than five". 

He added, "What we mean is that it's not only about the US, the UK, France, China and Russia. We don't want to have just these five countries in the Security Council."

"And it should work on a rotational system, because right now, you have all these members, 195 countries, who are all members of the UN. So we should have a rotational mechanism where potentially each and every member, every one of those 195 countries can potentially become a member. That's what we propose..," Erdogan added.

#WATCH | G 20 in India: When asked about India's inclusion in the permanent seat for UNSC, President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan says, "A country like India being there on the UN Security Council, we would be proud. But as you now, the world is bigger than larger than five.… pic.twitter.com/ptqJasLAuC

— ANI (@ANI) September 10, 2023

On Sunday, PM Narendra Modi called for reforms in various global bodies during his concluding address at the G20 Summit in Delhi. The PM said that the world was different when the UN was founded with 51 members and now it has nearly 200 members.

"The world was different when the UN was founded with 51 members. Now the number of member states has risen to nearly 200," Modi said. "It is nature's law that those who don't change with times lose their relevance," the PM further said.

Notably, in the joint statement, US President Joe Biden reaffirmed support for India's permanent berth at the UNSC.

"The leaders once again underscored the need to strengthen and reform the multilateral system so it may better reflect contemporary realities and remain committed to a comprehensive UN reform agenda, including through expansion in permanent and non-permanent categories of membership of the UN Security Council," the statement said.