Türkiye has formally nominated the former Turkish foreign minister and current secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Feridun Sinirlioğlu, for the post of United Nations secretary-general after the latest informal round of voting in the Security Council ended on October 30 without agreement on any candidate.
Erdoğan’s message
Türkiye’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Ahmet Yıldız, delivered President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s signed nomination letter to the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council, accompanied by the candidate’s curriculum vitae and vision document.
In the letter, Erdoğan said Sinirlioğlu had “the experience and consensus-building culture needed to lead the United Nations,” pointing to his more than four decades of diplomatic experience and his appointment in 2023 to lead the independent assessment on Afghanistan established under Security Council Resolution 2679.
He added that Türkiye’s decision aims to make a constructive contribution to the selection process at a time of deepening geopolitical divisions and declining trust among states, affirming Ankara’s commitment to mediation, humanitarian assistance and support for development.
Deadlock in the race
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the latest vote showed that consensus on a candidate remained absent and that the process was heading toward an impasse. Yıldız said Türkiye respected the convention that the next secretary-general should come from Latin America and the Caribbean, but none of the region’s candidates had secured the required majority.
A candidate needs at least nine votes in the 15-member Security Council without facing a veto from any of the five permanent members, after which the General Assembly appoints the secretary-general. Secretary-General António Guterres’s term ends on December 31.
Former ambassador to Israel
Sinirlioğlu was born in 1956 and joined Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry in 1982. He worked in Beirut, served as Türkiye’s ambassador to Israel from 2002 to 2007, then as deputy foreign minister, foreign minister in 2015 and permanent representative to the United Nations from 2016 to 2023.
The Associated Press expected the nomination to face objections from Greece, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, and Israel because of its strained relations with Türkiye.
