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Türkiye prepares to nominate Feridun Sinirlioğlu for UN secretary-general
Türkiye plans to announce former Foreign Minister and current OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu as its candidate for UN secretary-general on Friday evening, following another informal Security Council vote on Thursday, Turkiye Today reports.
RuskiGazeta Editorial DeskUpdated:
Türkiye is preparing to nominate former Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu, who currently heads the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), for the post of UN secretary-general. Turkiye Today reports this, citing Turkish sources.
Turkiye Today reports that Ankara will announce the nomination on Friday evening, after an informal vote in the UN Security Council on Thursday. A Turkish official described Thursday as a “critical” day, saying Ankara wants to see how the Security Council views the other candidates.
Six votes without a winner
After six informal votes, no candidate had secured the support of all five permanent members of the Security Council. Former Costa Rican Vice President Rebeca Grynspan is leading, while IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi is considered a strong contender. Sinirlioğlu could become the eighth candidate.
“We are not positioning ourselves against one or more candidates,” a Turkish official said, adding that “the world is larger than five.” President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been holding phone calls with the leaders of Security Council member states ahead of the process; the latest was with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Who is Sinirlioğlu?
Feridun Sinirlioğlu was born in 1956 in Giresun, on Türkiye’s Black Sea coast. He served twice as Türkiye’s deputy foreign minister, was foreign minister in the caretaker government from August to November 2015, and served as Türkiye’s permanent representative to the UN from 2016 to 2023. Since December 2024, he has been the OSCE secretary-general.
A candidate needs at least nine votes in the Security Council without a veto from the permanent members—Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom and France—before the General Assembly approves the nomination. António Guterres’s term expires on December 31, 2026.
No candidate has yet avoided a possible veto
During the sixth straw poll in the UN Security Council on October 16, colored ballots were used for the first time, allowing for the distinction of votes from permanent members. Race leader Rebeca Grynspan from Costa Rica received nine 'encourage' votes and five 'discourage' votes, two of which were cast by permanent members. Rafael Grossi and Guyana's Permanent Representative to the UN, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, each received eight 'encourage' votes and six 'discourage' votes.
US Permanent Representative to the UN Mike Waltz stated that the nomination of new candidates is a sovereign right of states, but this does not mean that Washington supports any of them, including the candidate from Turkey. Russia, like other permanent members of the Security Council, has the right to veto the recommendation of a Secretary-General candidate. The Greek newspaper Kathimerini wrote that the possible nomination of a Turkish candidate causes concern in Athens.
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