Mr. President,

I thank you for convening this meeting on the first anniversary of the adoption of the historic General Assembly resolution, which established the mandate for a General Assembly debate when a veto is cast in the Security Council.

Exactly one year ago, Member States took an important step to enhance the role of the General Assembly in line with letter and spirit of the UN Charter.

It was also an equally important step to make the Security Council more accountable.

Actually, the General Assembly is the most representative organ of the United Nations.
It has priority and power over all other organs of this Organization, including the Security Council.

According to Article 24 of the UN Charter, the Security Council acts on behalf of the Member States.

Thus, the Council draws its legitimacy from the wider membership and has to fulfil its responsibilities on behalf of all UN members.

The Council is there to maintain international peace and security, to defend Charter and support compliance with international law.

Regretfully, on many occasions, we have seen the Security Council fail in fulfilling this responsibility and carrying out its mandate.

Veto lies at the heart of the problem.

The use or threat of use of veto frequently caused paralyses and halted action when it was desperately needed.

Consequently, on many occasions, the veto gave rise to the perpetuation of the crises and exacerbated humanitarian costs.

Mr. President,

Türkiye was a member of the core group that led “the veto initiative” which resulted in the adoption of the above-mentioned resolution a year ago.

Thanks to this resolution, the General Assembly now has a useful tool at its disposal when it comes to issues pertaining to international peace and security, and thus help preserve the relevance of the United Nations.

During the past year, we have witnessed how the resolution served its purpose.

The General Assembly debates organized in accordance with this resolution received broad participation from Member States, and the special reports prepared in line with its provisions enabled a transparent and informed discussion.

Overall, the veto initiative has also been a substantial contribution to the efforts towards improving the relationship between the General Assembly and the Security Council.

Türkiye will continue to fully support this important mandate.

I thank you.