Mr. SADAK recalled that the tragic event which had caused the General Assembly to open its session with the United Nations’ flag at half mast, was unfortunately characteristic of the troubled and anxious times through which the world was passing. More than three years had passed since the cessation of hostilities, and the peoples had still not found the tranquillity for which they longed, and which was essential to their recovery. Insecurity in fact sprang from lack of trust; everyone suspected the intentions of others, and, seeing imaginary ambushes on all sides, reacted in word and deed in such a way as to bring about that crisis of confidence which the United Nations must eliminate if it wished to create an atmosphere favourable to sound and constructive work.
The United Nations had been created precisely for the purpose of providing a rallying-point to which all peoples might come and renew that trust in themselves and in others, without which existence was no longer possible in a century of interdependence. Had the Organization fulfilled that purpose? Had it taken a sufficient number of steps forward to give reason to hope that some day, in the near future, — for there was no more time to be lost — the nations of the world would be truly united in the service of a common ideal?
The report of the Secretary-General showed that the activities of the United Nations could not be described as sterile. The progress recorded might even have been considered quite satisfactory, had it been accompanied by some positive action towards the achievement of the principal aim of the Organization, the consolidation of peace. The peoples of the world longed for peace and for its comforting and lasting results. The United Nations would alone be able to give the peoples those results provided its foundations were as stable and solid as they must needs be in order to accomplish that primary task. The third session of the General Assembly gave the opportunity to re-examine that instrument in order to determine whether, owing to initial defects or to improper use, it had not become unsuitable for the accomplishment of its difficult task.
The representative of Turkey requested the Members of the Assembly to put aside for some time the rigid procedure which was followed at all great national and international meetings, to think first and foremost of the peoples whose representatives they were, and to act as simple human beings striving to rid themselves of the evils which beset them.
He considered that in order to strengthen the United Nations and render it more effective, the Organization should first of all be given a more democratic structure. The small nations should enjoy the same rights as the great Powers; his country had been opposed to the so-called right of veto from the beginning, not out of ill-considered pride, nor because it minimized the importance or the responsibility of the Powers on whom that privilege had been conferred, but because it had felt that such a procedure would hinder the development and strengthening of the Organization. The Turkish delegation felt that that right should be either abolished or sufficiently modified to ensure that it did not impede the work of the Organization. Such a step would in no way diminish the preponderant importance and influence of the Powers who were at the present time the beneficiaries of this right but who were themselves hampered by its application,
Turkey favoured the continuance of the General Assembly’s Interim Committee, the creation of which was a step towards the democratization of the United Nations. It considered it desirable to make that Committee a permanent organ or, at least, a sufficiently long-lived organ. That would render it more effective and authoritative.
The Organization should keep vigilant watch on the areas where armed forces were in conflict for one reason or another, because at the present time a war could not remain indefinitely localized. That was why the independence and inviolability of Greece should be upheld by the United Nations, in conformity with the Charter and with the great principles on which that document was based.
The representative of Turkey thought that regional agreements would further mutual understanding and co-operation among nations since it was easier to establish close relations between peoples who had known each other for centuries. Those regional pacts in reality implied the joint submission of the contracting countries to that ideal of peace, security and recovery common to all peoples. With regard to that matter he noted that the noble idea of creating a European parliament had been very favourably received in Turkey.
The speaker concluded by exhorting the members of the delegations, who represented peoples rather than Governments, to set to work with minds free of prejudice and mental reservations, because only a supreme effort would allow humanity to regain its balance and future generations to live in peace.