Topic:
Country: Turkey
Delegate Name: Andrew Gerrits
Militarization of space is quickly becoming one of the foremost issues in the current global climate. Since the 50s space has been the newest front in warfare. The US and the USSR brought this issue to the forefront during the space race and the first space militarization programs that appeared at this time. In 1967 space law was introduced by the UN that prohibited nuclear weapons on celestial bodies and space stations and had several provisions to keep space a peaceful space such as keeping space free for all states as well as states being liable for damage caused in space. There have also been other treaties such as the moon treaty. But countries such as the UK and Australia have derailed Chinese and Russian attempts to further demilitarize space in recent years.
Turkey firmly believes that the purpose of space is for research and exploration not for the destruction of humanity, in the words of former president Serdar Hüseyin Yildirim “Space, like any advanced technology, has two faces: one we can either use this technology for the benefit of humankind, or we can choose to use it for war and destruction” Turkey is fully committed to space exploration and since the formation of the space agency in 2018, Turkey has worked towards a fully operational space command. Turkey believes the key to global peace is collaboration, which is why Turkey has worked with the ROSCOSMOS Space State Corporation (a Russian space organization) on space exploration and demilitarization, and why Turkey strongly believes in international solutions to the continued demilitarization of space.
The best solution to keeping space demilitarized is for countries with common interests in keeping space purely for exploration to unite, and use their majority to fight against aggressors harboring Cold War hostilities. This is why we need to support all resolutions to demilitarize space, even if they are not all-encompassing, because getting more baseline rhetoric is essential to keeping space safe.
