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Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus said the global system has failed to show the courage to enforce its own norms, arguing that the collapse of the international order has become clear in Gaza, where civilians are not being protected and humanitarian aid is being obstructed.
Addressing the 152nd General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Kurtulmus said the assembly’s debate theme, “fostering hope, securing peace and ensuring justice for future generations,” reflected the deep needs of the present moment.
He said humanity is passing through an exceptionally difficult period marked by expanding conflicts, worsening inequality, displacement, waves of hunger and erosion of trust.
Kurtulmus said recent developments have undermined the capacity of institutions to produce will, the ability of rules to be implemented and the moral weight of core concepts.
“The global system, while preserving its claim to solve problems, unfortunately cannot demonstrate the courage to enforce norms,” he said.
He said the problem facing the world goes beyond technical shortcomings and points to a deeper and more universal crisis.
According to Kurtulmus, legal texts remain formally in force, but they have lost any protective effect in the face of the destruction suffered by millions of people.
“Law has been transformed into an instrument of pressure that bends when it comes to the powerful and becomes rigid against the weak,” he said.
Kurtulmus said the international system is in clear collapse and described the situation in Gaza as one of the most visible expressions of that breakdown.
He said the failure to produce an effective and binding will in the face of a situation where civilians cannot be protected, the right to life cannot be guaranteed, health infrastructure has been destroyed, humanitarian aid is blocked and basic means of life have been eliminated is a serious test for everyone.
“There is no need to beat around the bush here,” he said.
He said the international structure that remains silent in the face of systematic attacks on humanity is, in fact, losing its founding claims.
According to Kurtulmus, centers that say they represent conscience are content only to watch the suffering.
He said the Palestine issue has moved far beyond being the tragedy of a particular region and has become a shared test for all humanity.
Kurtulmus said Gaza is like an open laboratory showing how destructive the selective application of humanitarian law can be.
He said Gaza raises heavy questions about why institutions were established, whom rules are meant to protect, and how consistently the human family can act in the face of shared values.
He said everyone is facing that test.
“The silence maintained at the expense of the lives of the oppressed can never, ever be accepted as neutrality,” he said.
He added that there can be no political bargaining over civilians’ right to life.
He also said the passage of aid convoys cannot be treated as a favor linked to diplomatic timetables.
Kurtulmus said no differences in degree can be established between people’s lives, and no hierarchical structure can ever be applied to human life.
He said the most basic function of the global conscience is to be able to call a violation a violation, regardless of who commits it, and to place the perpetrator before the human family as guilty.
His remarks framed Gaza not only as a regional crisis but also as a moral and institutional test for the international system as a whole.
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