ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday the U.N. General Assembly should recommend the use of force, in line with a resolution adopted in 1950, if the U.N. Security Council fails to stop Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon.
NATO member Turkey has condemned Israel’s devastating attack in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and condemned its recent attacks in Lebanon against Hezbollah militants. It has stopped all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court, which Israel rejects.
“The UN General Assembly should quickly implement the authority to recommend the use of force, as it did with the 1950 resolution to consolidate peace, if the Security Council cannot show the necessary will,” Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.
The resolution says the UN General Assembly can step in if disagreements between the Security Council’s five permanent veto powers – Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – mean they are failing to maintain international peace.
The Security Council is the only UN body that can normally make legally binding decisions, such as authorizing the use of force and imposing sanctions.
Erdogan also said he was sorry to see Muslim countries fail to take a more active stance against Israel, urging them to take economic, diplomatic and political measures against Israel to pressure the country to accept a ceasefire.
“For the peace of everyone in our region, from Muslims to Jews to Christians, we call on the international community and the Muslim world to mobilize,” Erdogan said, adding that Israel’s attacks would also target Muslim countries if not stopped soon.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Toby Chopra)