Turkish FM slams differentiation of terrorist groups
NEW YORK – Anadolu Agency
Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly, Turkey’s foreign minister on April 25 slammed countries that draw distinctions between various terror groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“When ISIL kills innocent civilians, we all react, and this is the right thing to do,” Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said during a General Assembly meeting on “Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace.”
“When FETÖ [Fethullahist Terrorist Organization] or the PKK/PYD/YPG [Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party/People’s Protection Units] kill innocent civilians, some countries choose to ignore it. Because these terrorist groups might be useful for them somewhere else,” he added.
FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fethullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup in Turkey of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
“When there is a terror attack in a Western capital, we see it in headlines. When there is a terror attack in the Middle East or in Africa, we don’t hear about it,” said Çavuşoğlu. “Is human life more valuable in certain regions?” he said.
UN reforms
Turkey’s top diplomat also called for reforms to the U.N., adding that these are now “more important than ever.”
“The world is bigger than five, but the Security Council in its current form is not bigger than the P5,” Çavuşoğlu said, referring to the Security Council’s permanent members: China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.
“The Security Council functions if its agenda fits the national interest of the P5 countries,” said the foreign minister.
“The council is supposed to bring peace and prevent massacres, but the veto power hinders the council from fulfilling its responsibilities,” he added.
“If we really want to build and sustain peace, the Security Council must be more representative, more transparent, more inclusive, and more politically relevant and more democratic,” said Çavuşoğlu.
The foreign minister later told reporters that Turkey’s upcoming early elections on June 24 should not be used as a “domestic political fodder” in some European countries.
Late on April 24, he met his German counterpart Heiko Maas to discuss global peace.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the top Turkish and German diplomats since Maas’ appointment in March.
On April 23, Turkey made a formal request to Germany to set up polling stations at Turkish consulates for the June 24 polls, officials said on Monday.
Earlier today, Çavuşoğlu met U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and discussed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria and the Cyprus issue.