Let me first join with those who have preceded me on this rostrum in expressing my thanks to the French people and Government for the cordial invitation they have extended to us in requesting us to sit in Paris, and for the generous hospitality we have received. Our presence here coincides with the celebration of the bi-millenary of the foundation of Paris. In this coincidence I like to see a happy omen for the success and durability of our Organization.
63. In our times, when peoples enjoy democratic government, it is not only a right but, I should say, almost an obligation for representatives of governments to mount this rostrum and, at the same time, to express their hopes and their anxieties, their views and their ideas regarding the solutions to international problems.
64. Turkey, essentially a peace-loving country, to which expansionist ambitions and aggressive ideas are foreign and whose sole aim is to fulfil its desire to work in order to further the welfare of its population, has a foreign policy which alms only at peace and security.
65. It is because the United Nations was established with the primary objective of maintaining peace and security, the prerequisites of progress, that my country is, and remains, firmly attached to this Organization. We are convinced that only by sincerely implementing the principles of the Charter can the necessary conditions be established for good international relations and mutual understanding between peoples, without which our common heritage of human civilization cannot survive.
66. Many of the hopes we had placed in the United Nations are in process of fulfilment. The activities of our Organization in the social field and the stimulus it has given to the concept of co-operation to rehabilitate the world economy are already bearing fruit. On the other hand, some of the objectives for which our Organization was created have unfortunately not enjoyed the same success. But these are the very objectives which we all wish to attain most ardently, I might say anxiously, since they concern the achievement of peace and security.
67. The concept prevailing at the establishment of our Organization was that it should be universal, and yet many and great Powers, for example Italy, still remain outside the United Nations, which are in every respect worthy of being represented in it and which are unfortunately not yet among us today. We know why.
68. In the pursuit of collective security, our Organization has been confronted with obstacles. For example, the veto and a spirit of distrust continue to paralyse the efforts made for an effective regulation of armaments and the creation of the armed forces provided for in Chapter VII of the Charter.
69. In spite of these obstacles, the majority of the United Nations, refusing to be discouraged, have sought and found in the Charter itself ways and means of making the Organization work more effectively and suitable methods of strengthening collective security. The resolution [377 (V)] entitled “Uniting for Peace”, adopted last year by the General Assembly, is an encouraging example in this direction. We must endeavour to make the machinery created last year more effective and, in this connexion, the indications given in the report of the Collective Measures Committee and the plan proposed by the three Western Powers [A/1943] as a basis for the progressive reduction of armaments can, if they are put into effect and implemented in good faith, greatly ease the anxieties which today vitiate the international atmosphere. The report, and these proposals, have our full support. Like the resolutions adopted last year, those which we shall draft this year, to be effective, will require all nations for which law, justice, equality and the sovereignty of peoples are more than mere words, to be prepared to implement them boldly and, if necessary, to make sacrifices to ensure their success.
70. The peace-loving nations of the world have found, in the spirit and letter of the Charter, a means of ensuring the maintenance of peace and of collective security. I refer to regional agreements and to the North Atlantic Treaty in particular.
71. Turkey is essentially a peace-loving country. Its population, consisting mainly of farmers, has no aggressive ideas and has no ambitions outside its own territory. Its aim is to ensure the welfare of its citizens, which war could only destroy. But Turkey is not resigned to having peace at any price. For centuries it has had to defend its existence by bitter struggles; it will continue to do so whatever the circumstances and whenever necessary. If, for these reasons and because of its geographical position, Turkey has wished to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty, it has done so for the same reasons which have obliged it for twelve years to maintain a strong army to the detriment of its welfare and economic development.
72. The danger which overshadows the world cannot be removed by words, and the existence of a people cannot be made a stake in manoeuvres of propaganda and of ideological strategy. In the free world we cannot allow aggression to be rewarded with success. It is only by being strong that we can remove the threat of force. Our primary duty is to be strong enough to prevent war or, if war ever breaks out, to be able to repel aggression. Our attitude is dictated by realities; what we say is sincere, without mental reservations, and can easily be understood by all who are really pursuing the objectives of peace, liberty and justice.
73. The North Atlantic Treaty is not an aggressive combine; the unarmed peoples who conceived it have one objective, that of defence. And it is because of this that Turkey has never ceased to proclaim the value which it attached to normal friendly relations with all peoples and why it has wanted to accede to this treaty, because the treaty, as also the defence machinery it involves, is only intended to prevent or to repel aggression in order to allow the peoples of the world to continue their peaceful occupations on the path of progress. No one must read into the treaty any cause for anxiety unless he himself has aggressive intentions.
74. I should now like to pass to another part of our Organization’s work. There are a number of disputes in the present world. The United Nations have already had to deal with some of them. Some have already been solved and others are still being discussed. We are convinced that all these disputes will be settled the more satisfactorily the greater the good faith and mutual understanding of the parties concerned. In this connexion, we firmly hope to see peace and tranquility soon re-established in the Near East.
75. In conclusion, I should like to say a few words about what may certainly be considered to be the greatest expression of the United Nations spirit: Korea. It is there that our Organization has, for the first time, shown by acts its determination to oppose aggression. And the reason why the United Nations has played an active part in the operations in the war there, the reason why our soldiers have fought in Korea as if their own territory was being invaded or threatened, is because they believe in the independence and freedom of peoples and look upon the United Nations and collective security as the best means of guaranteeing and safeguarding their ideal.