Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Cyprus issue from the podium of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, reiterating Turkey’s longstanding positions on resolving disputes through good neighborly relations and international law. He also renewed his call for international recognition of the breakaway state in northern Cyprus. “We wish for the existing issues in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean to be resolved on the basis of good neighborly relations and in accordance with international law,” the Turkish president stated.
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Erdoğan also renewed his proposal for the convening of a Conference on the Eastern Mediterranean, arguing that such an initiative could help establish a “common ground for understanding.” “On this occasion, I once again repeat the appeal I have made at previous United Nations General Assemblies,” he said.
Ankara has repeatedly presented this conference as a mechanism that would include all regional stakeholders, including the Turkish Cypriot side. Erdoğan has put forward the same position in his previous speeches at the UN General Assembly.
Erdoğan at the UN: reiterates Turkey’s position on “sovereign equality” in the Cyprus issue
The Turkish president then turned to the Cyprus issue, doubling down on Ankara’s stance of two separate entities on the island and calling for the recognition of what he described as the “sovereign equality” of Turkish Cypriots. “The sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people must be secured, and the inhumane isolation imposed upon them must finally come to an end,” he declared.
Erdoğan concluded with a fresh appeal to UN member states: “I call on the international community to recognize the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ [sic] and to establish political, diplomatic, and economic relations with it.”
This position has been consistently promoted by Turkey in recent years as the foundation for a two-state solution in Cyprus. In his previous addresses to the General Assembly, Erdoğan had likewise called for international recognition of the self-proclaimed “TRNC.”
Erdoğan launches fierce attack on Israel over Gaza
The bulk of Erdoğan’s speech focused on Gaza, as widely anticipated ahead of his appearance at the General Assembly. The Turkish president used particularly harsh language against Israel, describing Gaza as “the most inhumane and shameful concentration camp of our time” and “the world’s largest graveyard of children.”
He accused Israel of “state terrorism” and a “genocidal mentality,” citing nearly 74,000 Palestinian deaths. According to Gaza’s health authorities, the death toll has surpassed 73,000, a figure that includes both civilians and combatants. Israel rejects the genocide allegations and maintains that its military operations are directed against Hamas.
Erdoğan called on UN member states to exert “greater pressure” on Israel and urged that the reconstruction of Gaza begin “without delay.”
Support for Palestine
The Turkish president reiterated his support for a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital. He argued that efforts to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state “will fail” and urged countries that have not yet done so to proceed with recognizing Palestine.
Ankara has made the Palestinian cause a central theme of Erdoğan’s interventions at recent UN General Assemblies, with the Turkish president consistently calling for international action against Israeli military operations.
Erdoğan’s message to Europe: “There can be no security without Turkey”
The Turkish president also delivered a message to Europe, arguing that the continent cannot become “stronger or safer” by excluding Turkey from its security architecture. The statement comes at a time when Ankara is seeking to assert its role as a NATO military power and a critical factor in European defense.
Erdoğan also referenced Turkey’s strengthening of regional cooperation through its defense partnerships with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
