Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used his address to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to call for an international conference on the eastern Mediterranean and reiterated Ankara’s longstanding positions on the Aegean, Cyprus and the recognition of Turkish Cypriot pseudo-state occupied by Turkey.
Erdoğan said his country wanted existing disputes in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean to be resolved on the basis of good-neighborly relations and international law.
“Our proposal to hold a conference on the eastern Mediterranean will contribute to creating common ground for understanding,” Erdoğan said, reiterating an appeal he said he had previously made before the UN General Assembly.
NOW: Israeli delegation leaves the assembly during Turkish President Erdogan’s speech at the UNGA. pic.twitter.com/YoyN8hM9KI
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His remarks come against the backdrop of longstanding Turkish claims over maritime zones and the continental shelf in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.
Greece has maintained that the principal outstanding dispute with Turkey concerns the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone in accordance with international law, while Ankara has raised a broader set of issues, including maritime jurisdiction and the status of certain Aegean islands. Previous UN General Assembly discussions have reflected the differing positions of the two countries.
Cyprus
Erdoğan also addressed the Cyprus issue, arguing that the “sovereign equality” and “equal international status” of Turkish Cypriots must be recognized and that what he described as their international isolation must end.
He called on the international community to recognize the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” and establish political, diplomatic and economic relations with it.
The position is consistent with Ankara’s stated policy that a settlement of the Cyprus issue must be based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot community.
The internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, meanwhile, continues to support a negotiated settlement based on a different framework, while Greece has stressed that the Cyprus issue remains linked to the island’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
‘Palestinians as victims of Israel’s state terrorism’
A substantial part of Erdoğan’s address focused on Gaza and the Palestinian issue.
He again attacked Israel over its military campaign in Gaza in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist incursion and urged countries that have not recognized the “state of Palestine” to reconsider their position.
Erdoğan also criticized the absence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the General Assembly, attributing it to the denial of a visa and describing the situation as an injustice. He said Turkey would speak on behalf of what he described as a free and sovereign Palestinian state and would use the UN podium to convey the Palestinian people’s demands.
“We are facing a genocidal mentality that cannot get enough of killing. The situation before us is extremely serious,” Erdoğan said.
He said Turkey remained committed to the Gaza agreement and called for reconstruction to begin without delay.
“We remain committed to the agreement we signed for Gaza. We must begin the reconstruction of Gaza without any delay,” Erdoğan said, calling on the international community to exert greater pressure on Israel to that end.
He said efforts to “strangle” the state of Palestine would fail and reiterated his support for an independent and territorially contiguous Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
