ISTANBUL

The international system established by the victors of World War II today is facing a profound legitimacy crisis across nearly all areas, the Turkish president said Friday.

"The post-World War II order built by its victors faces a deep legitimacy crisis across nearly all domains," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a video message sent to the International Strategic Communication Summit 2026 (Stratcom Summit ‘26) held in Istanbul by Türkiye’s Communications Directorate.

"The institutions, rules and set of values underpinning the system are gradually losing their function," he added.

"The world is going through a challenging period marked by escalating genocides, wars and crises, where power competition is spreading across areas such as energy, technology, and trade, and disputes are increasingly attempted to be resolved through force rather than dialogue."

"Ending tragedies, as in Gaza, and restoring peace, stability and prosperity worldwide, especially in the region, is more important than ever," said Erdogan.

He stressed the need to strengthen communication and cooperation mechanisms to counter disinformation and distorted narratives, calling on governments, academics, civil society and think tanks to take more active roles.

"Türkiye will resolutely maintain its principled, determined, peace-centric stance focused on humanitarian values and justice, mobilizing all its means to help rebuild peace and security not only in our region but across the world," Erdogan added.