Erdoğan Speaks Before the UN – al-Sharaa Scrolls Through Reels During Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech before the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, cameras filmed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa using his phone. While Erdoğan was speaking from the podium, the Syrian head of state calmly scrolled through short videos on his smartphone . It seemed particularly absurd given what Erdoğan was talking about at that moment. He spoke about #Gaza, #Palestine