Erdoğan at UN: Warning Over Islamophobia and Inequality in International Law

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed rising Islamophobia and discrimination in the West during his UN General Assembly speech, warning that an international system where the law is applied differently to powerful and weaker states is “doomed to decay.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed Islamophobia, discrimination against Muslims and inequality in the international legal system during his speech at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Erdoğan said growing hostility toward Muslims had become a serious problem in Western countries, stating, “Islamophobia, spreading like a plague in the West, is at the forefront of these challenges.”

He said Muslim women and girls in particular have faced increasing discrimination in recent years. Erdoğan also criticized headscarf bans imposed in schools in some countries, arguing that such restrictions affect women’s fundamental rights and freedoms.

The Turkish president then turned to the international legal system, calling for an end to what he described as an approach in which international law is applied differently to powerful and weaker states.

Erdoğan warned about the consequences of growing impunity, saying, “Let us not forget that an international system in which perpetrators get away with their actions, and where impunity becomes normalized, is doomed to decay.”

Erdoğan Calls for Equal Application of International Law

Erdoğan argued that international law should be applied equally to all countries and societies in order to preserve the credibility of the global system. He also called for stronger international efforts to combat discrimination, Islamophobia and double standards.