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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Oct 18 2014
Why did Turkey lose in the UN vote?
The Turkish government is understandably trying to play down its
defeat in the United Nations vote for the Security Council's temporary
seats.
by MURAT YETKÄ°N
To secure one of those seats during the 2015-16 term had been a very
important target for President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an during his Prime
Ministry period. It has been a major target for not only the Foreign
Ministry but also for a number of public agencies. For the last few
years, the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TÄ°KA) built
schools and opened water wells in distant African and South Asian
countries, Turkish Airlines (THY) established new direct flight routes
to capitals without giving much priority to profitability - and nobody
knows the amount of money from the secret budget of the prime minister
(formerly ErdoÄ?an, then Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu) for this purpose - expecting
that poorer countries would then vote for Turkey when the day comes.
The day of the vote came on Oct. 16. Foreign Minister Mevlut ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu
had been in New York for more than a week already. Government
officials now deny that they ever said they expected to win 140 votes,
when 129 was enough to win a seat, but they did seem pretty sure that
Turkey could get one of two seats allocated for the `Western Europe
and Others' group, where there were three candidates: Turkey, Spain
and New Zealand.
In the first round of voting, New Zealand won one of the seats, and
neither Spain nor Turkey was able to get the magic 129. The number of
votes, 109, was alarming for Turkey, but hopes were still high for the
next round. The expectation was that with ErdoÄ?an's challenging of the
superiority of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members with
his `The world is bigger than five' slogan, the smaller countries
would sympathize with and vote for Turkey as their advocate. There
were also the Islamic countries to consider, with ErdoÄ?an seen as
having a certain charm among the peoples of the Muslim world. In
addition, a umber of European countries hinted they would vote for
Turkey, ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) circles
believed.
In the second round, Spain was still unable to get the sufficient
number, but the votes for Turkey dropped to 73. The seat went to Spain
in the third round when the votes for Turkey dropped further to 60.
When Turkey won a temporary Security Council sear for the 2009-10 term
it attracted 150 votes. What has changed since then and why did Turkey
miss out in the latest vote? It is possible to list a few things:
1- Arab governments, especially Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which consider
the Muslim Brotherhood that ErdoÄ?an favors to be a terrorist
organization, are thought to have worked against Turkey.
2- Claims about the Turkish government tolerating Islamist groups in
Syria and Iraq, as the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL) rises, worked against Turkey.
3- ErdoÄ?an and DavutoÄ?lu insisting on the removal of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad, a neighboring leader, could be antipathetic to many
countries, especially smaller ones with strong neighbors.
4- ErdoÄ?an's `The world is bigger than five' campaign could be
regarded as antagonistic by the five permanent members and the
countries that they could influence.
5- The recent stance of the government regarding freedom of assembly,
freedom of the press and the independence of the judiciary fail to
draw a desirable picture regarding the situation of Turkish democracy.
Back in 2008, Turkish diplomacy was also on rise. Turkey had been in
better relations with not only its neighbors, including Armenia, but
also with the world. In contrast, today's Turkey does not have
ambassadors in three important countries in the neighborhood: Syria,
Egypt and Israel.
The latest outcome is not a success and there are lessons for Ankara
to draw from it.
October/18/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/why-did-turkey-lose-in-the-un-vote.aspx?PageID=238&NID=73146&NewsCatID=409
Oct 18 2014
Why did Turkey lose in the UN vote?
The Turkish government is understandably trying to play down its
defeat in the United Nations vote for the Security Council's temporary
seats.
by MURAT YETKÄ°N
To secure one of those seats during the 2015-16 term had been a very
important target for President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an during his Prime
Ministry period. It has been a major target for not only the Foreign
Ministry but also for a number of public agencies. For the last few
years, the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TÄ°KA) built
schools and opened water wells in distant African and South Asian
countries, Turkish Airlines (THY) established new direct flight routes
to capitals without giving much priority to profitability - and nobody
knows the amount of money from the secret budget of the prime minister
(formerly ErdoÄ?an, then Ahmet DavutoÄ?lu) for this purpose - expecting
that poorer countries would then vote for Turkey when the day comes.
The day of the vote came on Oct. 16. Foreign Minister Mevlut ÇavuÅ?oÄ?lu
had been in New York for more than a week already. Government
officials now deny that they ever said they expected to win 140 votes,
when 129 was enough to win a seat, but they did seem pretty sure that
Turkey could get one of two seats allocated for the `Western Europe
and Others' group, where there were three candidates: Turkey, Spain
and New Zealand.
In the first round of voting, New Zealand won one of the seats, and
neither Spain nor Turkey was able to get the magic 129. The number of
votes, 109, was alarming for Turkey, but hopes were still high for the
next round. The expectation was that with ErdoÄ?an's challenging of the
superiority of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members with
his `The world is bigger than five' slogan, the smaller countries
would sympathize with and vote for Turkey as their advocate. There
were also the Islamic countries to consider, with ErdoÄ?an seen as
having a certain charm among the peoples of the Muslim world. In
addition, a umber of European countries hinted they would vote for
Turkey, ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) circles
believed.
In the second round, Spain was still unable to get the sufficient
number, but the votes for Turkey dropped to 73. The seat went to Spain
in the third round when the votes for Turkey dropped further to 60.
When Turkey won a temporary Security Council sear for the 2009-10 term
it attracted 150 votes. What has changed since then and why did Turkey
miss out in the latest vote? It is possible to list a few things:
1- Arab governments, especially Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which consider
the Muslim Brotherhood that ErdoÄ?an favors to be a terrorist
organization, are thought to have worked against Turkey.
2- Claims about the Turkish government tolerating Islamist groups in
Syria and Iraq, as the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL) rises, worked against Turkey.
3- ErdoÄ?an and DavutoÄ?lu insisting on the removal of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad, a neighboring leader, could be antipathetic to many
countries, especially smaller ones with strong neighbors.
4- ErdoÄ?an's `The world is bigger than five' campaign could be
regarded as antagonistic by the five permanent members and the
countries that they could influence.
5- The recent stance of the government regarding freedom of assembly,
freedom of the press and the independence of the judiciary fail to
draw a desirable picture regarding the situation of Turkish democracy.
Back in 2008, Turkish diplomacy was also on rise. Turkey had been in
better relations with not only its neighbors, including Armenia, but
also with the world. In contrast, today's Turkey does not have
ambassadors in three important countries in the neighborhood: Syria,
Egypt and Israel.
The latest outcome is not a success and there are lessons for Ankara
to draw from it.
October/18/2014
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/why-did-turkey-lose-in-the-un-vote.aspx?PageID=238&NID=73146&NewsCatID=409