“The World is Bigger than Five”: A Salutary Manifesto of Turkey’s New International Outlook

Abstract

The World is Bigger than Five": Substance and Context T he world is bigger than five (in Turkish dnya beten byktr)" is now a well-known motto, which has been consistently used and popularized by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan since 2013, when he was prime minister. It could possibly be viewed as a follow-up to Turkey's overall critique of the United Nations (UN) system in the course of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) rule since 2002. Erdoan has coined this motto and used it on various domestic and international platforms as a manifestation of his frustration with the UN system and his vision of a more functional and representative UN. For example, during his speech at the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2014, he used this motto to draw on the tragic consequences of the privileged presence of the five permanent members (P-5), namely the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (UK), France, China, and Russia, within the UN Security Council (UNSC). These states all have the right to veto any draft resolutions, even if the required nine votes out of fifteen have been obtained. 1 Erdoan thus highlighted the failure of the UNSC in bringing about an effective solution to the conflicts in Palestine, Syria and