Turkey is considering nominating former foreign minister for top United Nations job

NEW YORK (AP) — Turkish officials have begun to shop around the idea of a former foreign minister joining the list of candidates vying to lead the United Nations as the monthslong race for secretary-general continues with no clear victor.

Feridun Sinirlioglu, a 70-year-old former Turkish foreign minister and U.N. diplomat, floated his candidacy on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level meeting in New York last week, according to two diplomats briefed on the matter.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential process, said the potential candidacy being pushed from Ankara appeared to be serious. Turkey would have to formally nominate Sinirlioglu to begin a process that many inside the world body have described as one of the toughest job interviews in the world.

The office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Sinirlioglu currently serves as the secretary-general of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. His current three-year mandate is scheduled to end in December 2027, but the top U.N. job would have a Jan. 1, 2027, start date.

An OSCE spokesperson said Friday that given that Sinirlioglu hasn’t been nominated, the organization would not comment.

The OSCE, whose 57 members include the United States and both Ukraine and Russia, was created during the Cold War as a platform for dialogue between East and West. The organization — like the U.N. — has a wide-ranging mandate, including conflict prevention, human rights, election observation and arms control.

The selection of the U.N. secretary-general will be left to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, especially its five veto-wielding members — the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France — which remain tight-lipped about their preferences. The 193-member General Assembly must give final approval.

If nominated, Sinirlioglu would likely to face obstacles from several corners of the international community, namely its neighbor Greece, which is one of the 10 elected members of the council. Pushback also would be expected from Israel, a close ally of the U.S.

Turkey, which has close ties with the Syrian government and has been providing assistance to Syria’s military, has tense relations with Israel. The rival countries have sought to curb each other’s influence in neighboring Syria.

During a Security Council meeting on Syria last month, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, blasted Turkey’s military presence in Syria and warned against allowing Syrian territory to become a military platform used to threaten Israel.

“Turkey is following the Iranian proxy playbook. It is deepening its military foothold in Syria, establishing bases and expanding its influence,” Danon told the council. “If Syrian sovereignty truly matters to the international community, it cannot apply one standard to Israel and another to Turkey.”

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Liechtenstein reported from Vienna.