Turkish PM Calls for U.N. Reform to Tackle Syria Crisis
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Saturday for reform to the U.N. Security Council to allow progress to resolve the Syria crisis which has been held up by veto powers Russia and China.
"If we must wait for one or two permanent members, then Syria's fate is really in great danger," Erdogan told a conference in Istanbul.
Moscow and Beijing, as two of the five permanent members of the Security Council, have so far blocked three draft resolutions backed by Western and Arab countries, accusing them of interference in Syrian affairs.
"It's time to change the structure of international institutions, starting with the U.N. Security Council," Erdogan said, calling for "wider, fairer and more effective representation."
"By failing to implement an effective policy towards events in Syria, the Security Council is rapidly losing its legitimacy in the eyes of the oppressed elsewhere in the world," he charged.
He said reform of the council should take into account the growing strength of countries including Turkey, Brazil, India and Indonesia, adding: "The West is no longer the only center of the world."
Erdogan spoke as international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle were in Istanbul for talks with Turkish leaders on the Syrian conflict.
Tensions soared between Damascus and Ankara after Turkish authorities forced a Syrian passenger plane flying from Moscow to land in Turkey and confiscated what Erdogan said was an illegal consignment of munitions.
With rebel fighters in control of large swathes of Syria's border area, there have been a series of incidents of cross-border fire this month that have sparked retaliatory shelling by NATO member Turkey and heightened U.N. concern about the potential for escalation.
Source: Agence France Presse
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