Kazakhstan President Tokayev’s Antalya Message and the Rise of the “The World Is Bigger Than Five” Approach

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Summarizing the speech delivered in Antalya by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, it is observed that an emphasis aligned with the perspective of “The world is bigger than five” was made.

Held under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (April 17–19, 2026), organized for the fifth time this year, is convened under the theme “Managing Uncertainties While Designing the Future” with the aim of producing solutions to the economic and political fault lines in the world.

Undoubtedly, the most remarkable session of this year’s Antalya Diplomacy Forum was the leaders’ panel titled “Managing Uncertainties While Designing the Future,” held on April 17, 2026, at 10:00. Moderated by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye and Member of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the panel featured as speakers the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, and the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze.

The statement by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, that “the United Nations not only needs to be supported but also needs to be reformed” reveals a significant necessity in terms of addressing today’s conflict zones and economic vulnerabilities around the world. Likewise, the remarks by the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, emphasizing the need to reconsider the United Nations, point to the necessity for a new structure that will sustain the international system, be more inclusive, and respond to the common security and economic concerns of states.

Within this framework, Tokayev’s statement in question shows parallelism with the “The world is bigger than five” approach articulated by the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on international platforms. This approach is based on the idea that world politics should not be confined to the decisions of a limited number of countries and that a more just and more representative international system should be established. In this respect, the common discourse of Erdoğan and Tokayev not only reflects the perspective of the Turkic world on the issue but is also evaluated as a search for solutions to existing global conflicts and economic vulnerabilities.

In his speech in Antalya, Tokayev, by drawing attention to the responsibility of the United Nations Security Council in the context of ongoing wars and conflicts, emphasized that not only great powers but also middle-sized and small states should assume greater responsibility at the international level. This approach strengthens the view that the international system should be transformed into a more balanced and inclusive structure.

When Tokayev’s statements that “great powers should not clog the global agenda in the United Nations Security Council” are evaluated together with the emphasis by the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, that the concentration of power increases the risk of degeneration, it is seen that a common approach emerges in favor of restructuring the United Nations Security Council. These assessments expressed at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum indicate that this issue will come to the fore more frequently in the coming period in discussions regarding the future of the global order.

Today, while the capacity of the United Nations Security Council to produce solutions to problems is being discussed more loudly, the main question that needs to be asked is whether the United Nations Security Council, as pointed out by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Tokayev, can maintain its sustainability with its current structure.
 

Ahmet Sağlam

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of UzDaily.