Turkish Bid for UN Leadership Suffers Major Setback

by · Greek City Times

Turkey’s bid to secure the next United Nations Secretary-General position suffered a major setback on Thursday after Turkish diplomat Feridun Sinirlioglu received just three positive votes in an informal Security Council ballot.

Sinirlioglu, a close associate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, received three votes in favour, eight against and four abstentions in the eighth informal ballot to select a successor to outgoing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The result raises serious questions about Ankara’s diplomatic campaign, which had invested considerable political and diplomatic capital in Sinirlioglu’s candidacy.

Greek diplomatic sources said the outcome came as no surprise for several reasons.

Read more: Greece and Cyprus Warns Against Turkish UN Secretary-General

First, Turkey submitted Sinirlioglu’s candidacy at the last minute. Second, his nomination does not respect the principle of geographical rotation, which favours a candidate from Latin America for the position. This has strengthened the prospects of former Costa Rican Vice-President Rebeca Grynspan, widely regarded as the frontrunner.

Third, Security Council members appear inclined to appoint a woman as Guterres’ successor.

Greek sources also pointed to Turkey’s record on international law, particularly its stance on Cyprus, arguing that Ankara does not demonstrate the universal respect for international law expected of a country whose candidate seeks to lead the United Nations.

They also questioned whether Sinirlioglu possessed the international standing required for a position closely associated with maintaining global peace.

Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis had explicitly ruled out Greek support for the Turkish candidacy on Wednesday during an interview with ANT1 television.

Gerapetritis said the UN Secretary-General must possess specific qualities and sufficient international standing to respond to difficult global challenges. He added that the candidate must come from a country that enjoys universal respect for international law.

Referring to Turkey’s refusal to accept United Nations resolutions, particularly those concerning Cyprus, Gerapetritis said no Greek government could support such a candidacy.

Other candidates in the race

In the same eighth informal ballot, Rebeca Grynspan secured the strongest result, receiving 12 votes in favour and three against, giving her a significant lead over the other candidates.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi came second with nine votes in favour, four against and two abstentions.

Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett received eight votes in favour, while Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates secured seven positive votes and six against.

Sinirlioglu is expected to present his candidacy to the UN General Assembly on November 6, followed by an informal dialogue with the Security Council on November 9.

Candidates need at least nine positive votes in the Security Council and must avoid a veto from any of its five permanent members: the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom.

However, Thursday’s ballot used identical voting papers for all members, making it impossible to determine whether any of the five permanent members accounted for one or more of Sinirlioglu’s eight negative votes.

(Source: AMNA)

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