Washington briefing: Turkey poised to win UN Security Council seat

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Thursday October 16, 2008

After years of lobbying and courting countries worldwide, Turkey appeared poised to win a nonpermanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, in an election set for October 17.

All 192 UN member states were to participate in a vote in which Turkey, Austria, and Iceland would compete for two seats reserved for the Western European group of countries. In the absence of progress in its European Union bid, the Turkish government has made winning the Security Council seat a foreign policy priority.

Turkey has raised its international profile in recent years, distancing itself from U.S. policies in Iraq and Iran, mediating talks between Syria and Israel, and most recently suggesting a Caucasus regional pact with Russia. Turkey has also offered financial support to island nations and pledged to open embassies in a number of remote countries. Turkey was previously a Security Council member twice, in the 1950s and in 1961.

According to an October 16 report in Zaman newspaper, Turkey's bid for the 2009-10 Security Council term is backed by most Muslim countries, as well as a number of countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. In all, Turkey needs support from 128 countries to win the seat.

In addition to five veto-holding permanent members - France, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, ten other states are elected for two-year terms.

Three of the ten come from the Africa group; two each from Latin America/Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, and Western Europe; and one from Eastern Europe. One of the members is an Arab country, alternately from the Asia or Africa bloc.

In the contest for the Asia seat, Iran is expected to lose to Japan; Iran had previously served on the Security Council in 1955-56. Mexico and Uganda are expected to be elected without opposition in their respective groups. Libya, Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, and Vietnam will continue to serve out their terms, which end next year.

The Security Council is authorized to approve military action, peacekeeping operations, and international sanctions.