United Nations: Amid financial pressure and political interference by the United States, a senior UN official has stated that the world body is discussing whether the UN and its key organs could be relocated from New York to other world cities, including Istanbul, Türkiye's financial centre.

"Moving traditional UN headquarters to other cities is something that is being looked at, something that has already happened," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, told the media on Friday at the UN headquarters.

In his UN General Assembly speech, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasised that Istanbul could serve as an excellent UN hub.

Other leaders, including Serbian leader Aleksandar Vucic, during their speeches also proposed moving the crisis-hit UN and its branches to their cities.

Asked by TRT World if Istanbul could be the city where the UN could be shifted, Dujarric said, "Istanbul is already home to a number of regional hubs for various UN organisations, so it is something we are continuously evaluating."

Five of the UN's six principal organs—the General Assembly, the Security Council, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the UN Secretariat—are all based at UN Headquarters in New York.

The sixth, the International Court of Justice, is based at The Hague, the Netherlands.

Amid significant cuts to UN funding, particularly from the United States under the Trump administration in 2025, there has been a growing discussion and increasing demands from various international figures for relocating the UN headquarters and some of its agencies from New York City.

The funding crisis has led to budget deficits in UN, prompting cost-saving measures like staff reductions. Consequently, several countries, including Türkiye, are proposing Istanbul as a potential UN hub.

Reports indicate a potential $500 million budget reduction for 2026, which could result in a 20 percent reduction in staff globally. This has prompted internal memos outlining major overhauls, such as merging departments and shifting resources away from expensive Western hubs.

'Abbas should have been given a visa'

The appeals arise from fiscal strain, political meddling by the host nation, and widespread discontent with US sway over the organisation.

Dujarric was asked to characterise the global system that allows a leader [Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu], wanted by the International Criminal Court, to speak at the UN and his counterpart from Palestine [Mahmoud Abbas], who is officially stating that Palestine recognises Israel is barred from entering the UN.

"Our position is that every president including President Abbas should have been given a visa, the fact that he and his delegation [was denied visa by US] we feel goes contrary to the [UN rules] because every representative of every member state or permanent observers have a right to speak," at the UN.

Prior to the UNGA, the US declared it would deny visas to Palestinian leader and his delegates for the General Debate and other meetings in its New York headquarters.

As the UN's host, Washington is obliged not to impede delegates.

Instances include barring Sudan's Omar al-Bashir in 2013 due to ICC charges, and moving the 1988 General Assembly to Geneva after Yasser Arafat was denied entry.

The Trump administration claims compliance, yet critics view the move as a blow to multilateralism, citing withdrawals from WHO, climate accords, and sanctions on ICC judges.