Kremlin finds Erdoğan's 'handful of WW2 victors' remark 'unacceptable'

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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after the latter referred to five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China -- as a “handful of countries.”

Peskov said that Erdoğan's remarks were not “acceptable in terms of diplomacy.”

“As you can guess, small details are very important. When I look at the Russian translation, it is not very acceptable to use a belittling remark such as 'handful of countries' for powers which made a lot of sacrifice in terms of taking on the whole burden and saving the world from fascism,” Peskov was quoted as saying by Sputnik's Turkish service on Oct. 20.

Peskov, who is fluent in Turkish, said that he has not yet read Erdoğan's statements in Turkish, but was planning to do so.

On Oct. 18, Erdoğan landed in Luanda for a meeting with the president of Angola, Joao Lourenco. He later addressed the South African country's parliament, during which he complained about “injustices” in the current global order.

“The fate of humanity should not be left to the mercy of a handful of countries that won World War II,” Erdoğan told Angolan lawmakers. 

“Today we speak the motto ‘the world is bigger than five’ and this way we fight against inequality in the world,” he said, referring to the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Erdoğan often expresses his objection to the current structure of the UN with the motto “the world is bigger than five.” The well-known motto has been used by Erdoğan since 2013, when he was prime minister.