Erdoğan's own column says abolish the veto; the Jerusalem Post's sources say he has eyed the UN's top job for Fidan — Turkish officials "strongly deny"

Two reports, three hours apart, sharing no fact. Both are about Turkey and the United Nations on the day the General Assembly opened its general debate. Neither mentions the other's subject.

A signed column. Espreso TV reports that Erdoğan, writing for Bloomberg, proposed a Security Council with no permanent members at all — every seat elected by the General Assembly for a fixed term, on rotation, with any state seeking a second mandate needing a fresh majority. Espreso TV names the five that hold the veto now — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and quotes his slogan: "The world is bigger than five."

Unnamed sources. The Jerusalem Post reports that sources familiar with the matter told it Erdoğan has considered nominating Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as secretary-general several times. Its headline hedges the plan as "may push" and states flat that it is "causing concern in Israel"; the text we hold quotes nobody there saying so. The denial is one sentence: "Turkish officials strongly deny any such plan."

Not settled. Whether the second story exists. One report carries each claim; we hold no second account of either, and not the column itself — only a Ukrainian outlet's report of it. Nobody is named confirming the nomination, and nobody is named denying it.

This is a story about who gets to decide at the United Nations — and, separately, about who might run it.

How it got here. The UN was founded in 1945, and its Charter gave five states permanent seats on the Security Council with a veto over its decisions: the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France. The other ten seats are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. Changing any of that means amending the Charter, and an amendment cannot take effect without the agreement of all five veto holders — which is why reform proposals have gone nowhere for decades. Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, has pressed the case for years; "the world is bigger than five" is Erdoğan's long-running slogan for it, and the Espreso TV report has him repeating it. What is new in that report is the shape of the demand: not more permanent seats, but none.

The second job. The secretary-general is appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council, so the same five can block a candidate. António Guterres's second five-year term ends on 31 December 2026, which is why a name attached to the post now is news at all.

Who they are. Erdoğan has led Turkey since 2003, as prime minister and then as president. Hakan Fidan has been his foreign minister since 2023, and before that ran Turkey's intelligence service for more than a decade. The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli paper; it reports the prospect of his candidacy as causing concern in Israel, and names nobody there.

What is at stake. Abolishing the veto would move decisions on wars, sanctions and peacekeeping from five capitals to elected majorities — and cannot happen without those five agreeing to give it up. A Turkish secretary-general would need the recommendation of that same Council.

Where it stands. Espreso TV reports the high-level debate running to Saturday 27 September and resuming on Monday 28 September. The nomination claim stands reported and denied inside one report.