Erdoğan spoke about the 'Sword Oath Ceremony' of the lieutenants: This is not a square where the ignorant play around.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan answered journalists' questions regarding current issues at the Türkevi in New York City, United States, where he went to attend the 79th United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Evaluating his visit to the US, Erdoğan made striking statements regarding the sword oath ceremony of the lieutenants.

"OUR BILATERAL TRADE VOLUME HAS EXCEEDED 30 BILLION DOLLARS"

Before answering questions, President Erdoğan provided a general assessment of his visit to the US, recalling that they met with representatives of think tanks on September 22 and participated in the traditional dinner of the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASK) that evening, emphasizing that they closely follow the activities of the Turkish-American community in defending Turkey's interests. Erdoğan stated that they consulted with American business circles at the 15th Turkey Investment Conference organized by the Turkish American Business Council (TAIK) and expressed that he explained the investment opportunities Turkey offers to American entrepreneurs. He noted that they shared the roadmap for the future of the Turkish economy with the participants, saying, "The US has become the second country we export the most to and the fifth country we import the most from in the last two years. Our bilateral trade volume exceeded 30 billion dollars last year. We believe that with good planning, we can reach our total trade target of 100 billion dollars."

UN ENGAGEMENTS

President Erdoğan stated that this year's UN General Assembly discussions were held under the theme of "leaving no one behind." Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, he pointed out the steps that need to be taken to ensure a secure and prosperous future for humanity, continuing his remarks as follows:

"I shared our views on fundamental issues that are important for the preservation of global peace and security. I once again clearly expressed that the current international system and institutions have failed to fulfill their primary duties regarding Gaza. I indicated that it is possible for humanity to live in a much fairer world that listens to the voices of the oppressed. During our time in New York, we also held numerous bilateral meetings. In this context, we met with the Presidents of Iran, Serbia, and Ukraine, the President of the Maldives, the Chairman of the Sudan Sovereignty Council, the Crown Prince of Kuwait, and the Prime Ministers of Albania, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, and Armenia, as well as the UN Secretary-General."

"ISRAEL IS USING EVERY MEANS TO SPREAD THE FIRE IN GAZA TO THE ENTIRE REGION"

During the meetings, Erdoğan emphasized that they thoroughly discussed bilateral cooperation issues and the crises in the region, particularly focusing on the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He stated that he expressed to all his interlocutors that they must increase aid to Palestine before the approaching winter season, work in cooperation for this, and intensify pressure on Israel. Erdoğan noted:

"You are already following this closely. Israel is resorting to every means to spread the fire in Gaza to the entire region, just as we have warned for months. Attacks on Lebanon are the latest example of this. Over 600 Lebanese have been killed in the past week. As the world remains silent and Western countries continue to provide military support to the Israeli administration, these massacres will unfortunately continue. We drew attention to this danger in our discussions. We tried to evaluate the 79th United Nations General Assembly with a very intense and productive diplomatic traffic. I hope that the meetings and engagements we have conducted will be beneficial for our country and nation, as well as for all humanity."

NETANYAHU'S PARTICIPATION IN THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

President Erdoğan, in response to the question, "How do you evaluate the fact that no concrete steps have been taken to prevent Israel at the UN, and that there has been no common objection at the leaders' level, with very little time left until the anniversary of October 7? While Israel is being tried at the International Court of Justice, Netanyahu is coming here. His participation in the General Assembly and expected speech, what is your comment on this contradiction?" made the following assessments:

"It is truly a disgrace that a criminal who has committed genocide in Palestine can be present under the UN umbrella. This is a betrayal to the memories of the babies, children, mothers, fathers, UN officials, journalists, and many others who have been brutally murdered. If you paid attention to the attitudes of the Israeli delegation after our speech at the UN General Assembly yesterday, they were in a very strange position. Because they have no way to defend themselves. Their stance already shows this. Therefore, we called on everyone to stand on the right side of history and continue to do so. A system that cannot distinguish between the oppressed and the oppressor, the murderer and the victim, and cannot treat each one as they deserve is on the verge of decay. The UN General Assembly either treats that murderer as he deserves or this disgraceful situation will go down in UN history as a stain. Unfortunately, that is what will happen. Israel is a state that shows zero respect for UN resolutions and has repeatedly violated the principles of the UN. I believe that it is the most important duty to give the necessary lesson to such a state with written and visual materials."

THE STRUCTURE OF THE UN

President Erdoğan emphasized, "You had stated that the UN needs to reform and change its structure. It has once again become evident over the past 20 years that the United Nations has been unable to establish justice and peace in the world. How do you evaluate this point?" In response, he said, "The UN is in a position that cannot fulfill its mission of preventing wars, cannot make anyone obey, cannot even protect its own officials, and cannot hold Israel accountable for killing them."

Erdoğan expressed that he was very surprised when he was given the number of casualties during his meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stating that a significant number of UN officials have currently fallen victim to Israel's massacres.

President Erdoğan continued as follows:

"The UN has turned into a structure that guards a system where the powerful are right and has lost its functionality. In the current order, the five inviolable permanent members of the UN Security Council can do whatever they want ruthlessly. The temporary members have no function at all. The states that are taken as temporary members are managed there. So where do these permanent members come from? Asia, Europe, America... In terms of religion, the number of Muslim countries in the world is known, but none of the Muslim countries are among the permanent members. Now Africa is asking for permanent membership. So, is there a place for Africans in the UN Security Council? No. Does Japan want membership? Yes. Is there a place? No. Germany is asking from Europe. There is no place for Germany either. We, as Turkey, also want it. There is no place for us either. Why? As Turkey, we, Germany, and Japan are countries that cannot get what they want here. We will continue our rightful demand. Mr. Guterres acknowledged our request during our meeting, but they do not have the power or means to grant this right."

ISRAEL'S ATTACK ON LEBANON

Erdoğan stated, "Israel has started to attack Lebanon after Gaza. You interpreted this as a sign that Israel is actually trying to spread the war to the region. There is also an approach that Iran's right to respond to Israel is reserved. Considering this, how would Turkey's position be in the event of a possible regional war, and what kind of action would it take or not take?" He said that a very serious trauma has been experienced, and unfortunately, the Lebanese people are the ones suffering from this trauma.

Erdoğan, who stated that he was following the evacuations in southern Lebanon, noted: "There is a very ruthless picture. Everyone is on horse-drawn carriages, and families are evacuating the region. It really hurts us. Our region is facing such a ruthless and terrible picture. We are talking about Lebanon, which has a population of six million. Where will these people escape to? How will they survive there? They are without food, exposed, and have no clothing in their vehicles. They are taking whatever blankets and belongings they can find and leaving the region. This Lebanon was a different Lebanon during the time of the late Rafik Hariri. It was much wealthier and stronger. But now that Lebanon is no longer there. We will provide them with opportunities to help Lebanon regain its footing, and we will think about how to restore this situation to its original state. Our wish is that Lebanon overcomes this trauma as soon as possible. From what I have seen in television broadcasts, the situation in Lebanon is very bad. May God be with them and their helpers.

On the other hand, Israel seems to be dreaming, and it appears to be willing to turn the lives of the peoples in our region into a nightmare to realize that dream. Hitler once had a dream too, and he made various nations experience nightmares. In the end, he clearly understood that what he saw was a dream. Sooner or later, today's Hitler, Netanyahu, will also face this reality. Everyone has a plan, but we believe that God has a plan too."

US ELECTIONS

President Erdoğan, regarding the presidential elections to be held in the US in November, said, "My wish is that the incoming administration does not make us miss the outgoing one. We did not only experience the F-35 issue during Mr. Donald Trump's term; everyone has disappointed us. Republicans have disappointed us, and so have the Democrats. Now we will see whether this will continue in the new process."

Recalling his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdoğan responded to the question, "We know that Zelensky mentioned that consultations were held with countries including Turkey for a possible peace conference. Has the issue of the Ukraine Peace Conference come up? If such a situation arises, will a possible peace conference be held in Turkey?" as follows:

"We have stated that we are ready to be part of this conference. In this regard, both our Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and our intelligence agency will be in contact with them. Our wish is that we, as Turkey, play a role in bringing peace to the region. We are perhaps the country that desires a fair peace in the Ukraine-Russia war the most. We have not hesitated to put our hands under the stone and are striving for peace. This war can end through diplomacy and dialogue. As long as both warring parties and other actors believe that we can solve the problems this way. Unfortunately, we are not close to that right now."

Emphasizing that they see Turkey's ability to communicate with both Ukraine and Russia as an advantage on the road to peace, Erdoğan stated, "If we can walk this difficult path and reach our goal, we will have rendered great service to humanity. As long as the parties do not abandon provocations, arms races, and a system where weapons speak instead of people, the hope for peace will not be born in a concrete way. However, we will continue to seek that hope without tiring. We will increase our efforts and work harder."

"TURKEY IS A RELIABLE ALLY WITHIN NATO"

President Erdoğan, in response to the question, "In his farewell speech, the departing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated, 'Without Turkey in the south, the security of the European continent is unpredictable, impossible.' How do you evaluate this statement? Does Europe appreciate Turkey's value enough? How do you assess their perspective?" stated that Stoltenberg maintained his relations with Turkey in the best possible way during his tenure as NATO Secretary General and never drew a negative line in his relations with Turkey.

"Let's see how this situation will continue with Mr. Rutte. Our friendship during the tenure of the new Secretary General Mark Rutte was good. I hope we can continue this solidarity and unity in the NATO Secretary Generalship as well," Erdoğan said, noting that international organizations and alliances that stray from their founding values and fail to uphold them will become corrupt, and if they cannot remedy this fundamental flaw, they will no longer be able to fulfill even their primary duties.

Erdoğan stated, "If NATO faces the danger of transforming the principle 'All for one, one for all' into 'All for some, some for all,' that is where the corruption begins. Therefore, measures must be taken and implemented without delay. Especially when it comes to a vital issue like security, there should be no deviation from the principles. Turkey is a reliable ally within NATO that is aware of its obligations and responsibilities and fulfills them completely."

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We see that Europe knows how valuable Turkey is for NATO, but sometimes it overlooks this fact.

"WE SAY CHANGE TO FULFILL THE MESSAGE OF THE NATION"

In response to a journalist's question regarding the AK Party's 8th Grand Ordinary Congress process, "You are giving a very strong signal of change. What do you think about changing and what will you change?" Erdoğan said:

We have been presenting the new to Turkey for 23 years. Within that new, our values that define us are represented in the freshest form. As Hazrat Mevlana said, one leg of our compass is fixed on those values, while the other leg roams the world. We have read the message of the nation in the most accurate way, and we say change to fulfill that message. The change we are talking about is a rebirth initiative. As Yunus said, 'We are reborn every moment. Who would get tired of us?' We are now fulfilling this necessity.

THE OATH OF THE LIEUTENANTS WITH SWORDS

In response to the question, "After July 15, you took very important steps regarding civil-military relations, especially in the democratic transformation of the armed forces, but it seems that a second-level reform is needed after the recent sword clash incident in Ankara. Will you take any measures in this regard?" Erdoğan stated:

As for the sword issue, it was unfortunately a confusion created by a few ignorant individuals. Currently, both the National Defense University, the Land Forces Command, and our Minister of National Defense are continuing their joint efforts, and we will ensure that those involved receive the punishment they deserve. This is not a place where the ignorant can play around. We absolutely cannot leave our country in a place where the ignorant can play around. Accordingly, we will take our steps. We met with our Minister of Defense and the head of our Defense University, held our discussions, and hopefully, we will conclude this matter as soon as possible.