Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to overhaul the UN Security Council and end the five permanent members’ vetoes, arguing the system is unjust. Formal abolition is unlikely: it requires a UN Charter amendment ratified by all five permanent members.
Under Article 108, a Charter amendment needs approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly and ratification by two-thirds of UN members, including all five permanent members. The council has five permanent and 10 rotating seats; any one permanent member can block a substantive resolution, even if the other 14 vote in favour. The US vetoed seven resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the past three years, including five calling for a Gaza ceasefire; Russian vetoes have blocked firm resolutions on Ukraine.
A 2015 France-Mexico initiative asks permanent members to voluntarily suspend vetoes on resolutions involving mass atrocities. France says 128 UN member states support it, with 21—including the UK—backing it in the past four months; any General Assembly resolution would be non-binding. Russia opposes Erdogan’s proposal but supports adding permanent seats. Expansion is considered more likely, though it too would require all five permanent members’ approval.
