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BEHIND TURKEY'S HUMILIATING FAILURE TO WIN A UN SECURITY COUNCIL SEAT
Business Insider
Oct 29 2014
James Smart, The Press Project International
It all seemed to be going so well.
Turkey was, it appeared, in the driving seat to be one of five new
non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.
"We believe, God permitting, that we will get the result of the work
we put in" asserted Turkey's new Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu,
speaking from Turkey's pre-election gala at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
in New York.
Although the delegation had loosely been assured of around 140 votes
from the UN General Assembly, what transpired seemed to take everybody
by surprise with Turkey departing the race in the third round with
a mere 60, some distance short of the 129 required to triumph.
In its stead New Zealand and Spain took the two available places,
and will from January 1st enjoy the prestige of being members of the
Security Council for two years. Back in Turkey, for a government
unacquainted with losing hard-fought elections, soul-searching is
required.
The Security Council is the UN's most powerful body, focusing on
worldwide peace and security. Five countries hold permanent seats,
while ten seats are given to other countries on a rotational, elected
basis. While the US, UK, France, China and Russia hold continual
positions with full powers plus veto rights, ten other countries with
temporary positions are able to make proposals, lobby other members,
and vote.
This year five countries - Angola, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Turkey's
victors New Zealand and Spain - will replace the previous incumbents
in a little over two months. Some of these countries that ended up
winning have similar or worse human rights records and anti-democratic
records to Turkey, and before the vote it appeared that the Turkish
delegation was going to get its way.
The delegation had been verbally stipulated of around 140 votes, but
from a total of 191 available votes it certainly seemed surprising
when Spain too had around 150 agreed upon. In an anonymous voting
contest, promises are easy to make -- but why were these ones so
difficult to keep?
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's new Prime Minister, seemed bullish prior to
the vote. "If we are elected, and we believe it's a great possibility,
we will be the first country in the world to be elected for a second
time, after a five-year break. This shows Turkey's importance." Turkey
won 151 votes in the same contest in 2009, and Davutoglu had some
strong reasons for believing in a similar success this time around.
Pivotal geo-politically, encompassing a number of new oil and gas
pipelines, a founding member of the UN and a member of G20, Turkey has
generally won plaudits for its recent building of relatively humane
refugee camps that house an estimated 1.6 million Syrian refugees.
The world's 17th highest GDP has emerged from the past five years of
global economic crisis quite unscathed, and has been trying to take
a much more pro-active stance in the region since 2010.
Newly inaugurated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as Prime Minister
was consistently a vocal opponent of Syria's dictator Bashar al-Assad,
and until quite recently this mirrored prevalent world opinion. But
as this opinion evolved, Turkey's unchanging stance was landing it
in hot water.
As the situation in Syria has unearthed new power dynamics, Erdogan's
stubborn anti-Assad and anti-Kurdish position has started to irk
those who recognize a differing political landscape painted by the
newly empowered Islamic State (IS).
Although Turkey has finally started making some concessions to the
US, and is now somewhat ostensibly assisting the Kurds in the fight
against IS, its overall mixed response to the situation has drawn
worldwide indignation.
Erdogan has at times seemed more interested in overseeing the
destruction of the Kurds, and state border guards have been allowing
IS fighters into Turkey for medical treatment while not allowing Kurds
from Turkey across the border to assist their brethren in the battle
against IS at Kobane. While the General Assembly vote was underway,
Turkish fighter jets were bombing a Kurdish village.
It appears that Erdogan's obstinacy and pro-Sunni position has
prevented him from realizing that Assad needn't be the main target for
the moment - and worldwide opinion seems to suggest that the growth
of the openly barbaric and power-hungry IS is of greater concern.
The Spanish daily newspaper El Pais said that "what is important in
the UN is not so much about having friends as having fewer enemies"
- and Turkey has been busy making enemies all over the region and
beyond. While an anti-Turkey campaign can always be counted on from
Armenia, Cyprus and Greece, due to historical wounds that were never
healed, and while they haven't been able to count on the vote and
lobbying influence of Israel since a falling-out in 2010, other
countries in the region have started to pile on the pressure.
An Embarrassing Loss
Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia lobbied
hard against Turkey for its pro-Muslim Brotherhood stance,
while Shia-dominated countries are concerned with how Erdogan is
rabble-rousing to focus minds on Sunni-Shia sectarian divides. Erdogan
has professed support in the past for Sunni militants such as IS
and Al-Nusra.
Beyond Turkey's immediate neighborhood yet more influence is being
lost. A bitter quarrel between Erdogan and his former ally, the
popular preacher Fetullah Gulen put paid to much of the African vote.
Gulen has a powerful following worldwide, particularly in Africa,
with a lot of schools, charities and influence.
TURKEY-GULEN/ REUTERS/Selahattin Sevi/Zaman Daily via Cihan News
AgencyIslamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence
in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania in this December 28, 2004 file photo.
In 2009, Turkey's previous fruitful attempt to join the security
council was partly thanks to Gulen's "Hizmet" Organisation campaigning
in that part of the world.
For the past 18 months he and Erdogan have been at war, with Erdogan
trying to shift his supporters out of the public domain and otherwise
diminish his capabilities inside and outside of Turkey. By way of
vengeance it seems that the Hizmet organization has triumphantly
campaigned against Turkey this time around.
Losing clout in these regions might not have dealt the Turkish
delegation a mortal blow, had other aspects of Erdogan's governance
been popular worldwide. But the way the country is being managed
is causing concern, with well-documented evidence of increased
anti-democratic behaviour.
While this hasn't prevented Venezuela or Angola from entering the
Security Council, it seems to have helped tip the balance for a lot
of General Assembly members.
Turkey always had a difficult hand to play, as it is rather unusual
to be voted onto the Security Council twice in four terms, and needed
a watertight campaign. A change of tactics regarding Syria, a less
bellicose voice in the region, and some sort of truce with Gulen,
would have helped matters tremendously.
"We will not abandon this stance for the sake of votes. We will
continue to be the voice and conscience of countries that expect
this from us" said Cavusoglu, odd considering the money and efforts
invested in victory.
But Turkey ought to relish the election in 2018 against Israel,
Germany and Belgium, and perhaps now would be an opportune moment
for rumination.
Erdogan was very keen on this victory, and needs to examine the
reasons for defeat. The question is, are the characters involved
capable of the kind of soul-searching needed to understand and deal
with their mistakes?
Blaming meddling outsiders, protesters, Israel, journalists, or even
the "Interest Rates Lobby", seems to suffice to his own supporters.
But as we learned this week, the rest of the world isn't so easily
duped.
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-turkey-got-snubbed-at-the-un-2014-10
Business Insider
Oct 29 2014
James Smart, The Press Project International
It all seemed to be going so well.
Turkey was, it appeared, in the driving seat to be one of five new
non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.
"We believe, God permitting, that we will get the result of the work
we put in" asserted Turkey's new Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu,
speaking from Turkey's pre-election gala at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
in New York.
Although the delegation had loosely been assured of around 140 votes
from the UN General Assembly, what transpired seemed to take everybody
by surprise with Turkey departing the race in the third round with
a mere 60, some distance short of the 129 required to triumph.
In its stead New Zealand and Spain took the two available places,
and will from January 1st enjoy the prestige of being members of the
Security Council for two years. Back in Turkey, for a government
unacquainted with losing hard-fought elections, soul-searching is
required.
The Security Council is the UN's most powerful body, focusing on
worldwide peace and security. Five countries hold permanent seats,
while ten seats are given to other countries on a rotational, elected
basis. While the US, UK, France, China and Russia hold continual
positions with full powers plus veto rights, ten other countries with
temporary positions are able to make proposals, lobby other members,
and vote.
This year five countries - Angola, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Turkey's
victors New Zealand and Spain - will replace the previous incumbents
in a little over two months. Some of these countries that ended up
winning have similar or worse human rights records and anti-democratic
records to Turkey, and before the vote it appeared that the Turkish
delegation was going to get its way.
The delegation had been verbally stipulated of around 140 votes, but
from a total of 191 available votes it certainly seemed surprising
when Spain too had around 150 agreed upon. In an anonymous voting
contest, promises are easy to make -- but why were these ones so
difficult to keep?
Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's new Prime Minister, seemed bullish prior to
the vote. "If we are elected, and we believe it's a great possibility,
we will be the first country in the world to be elected for a second
time, after a five-year break. This shows Turkey's importance." Turkey
won 151 votes in the same contest in 2009, and Davutoglu had some
strong reasons for believing in a similar success this time around.
Pivotal geo-politically, encompassing a number of new oil and gas
pipelines, a founding member of the UN and a member of G20, Turkey has
generally won plaudits for its recent building of relatively humane
refugee camps that house an estimated 1.6 million Syrian refugees.
The world's 17th highest GDP has emerged from the past five years of
global economic crisis quite unscathed, and has been trying to take
a much more pro-active stance in the region since 2010.
Newly inaugurated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as Prime Minister
was consistently a vocal opponent of Syria's dictator Bashar al-Assad,
and until quite recently this mirrored prevalent world opinion. But
as this opinion evolved, Turkey's unchanging stance was landing it
in hot water.
As the situation in Syria has unearthed new power dynamics, Erdogan's
stubborn anti-Assad and anti-Kurdish position has started to irk
those who recognize a differing political landscape painted by the
newly empowered Islamic State (IS).
Although Turkey has finally started making some concessions to the
US, and is now somewhat ostensibly assisting the Kurds in the fight
against IS, its overall mixed response to the situation has drawn
worldwide indignation.
Erdogan has at times seemed more interested in overseeing the
destruction of the Kurds, and state border guards have been allowing
IS fighters into Turkey for medical treatment while not allowing Kurds
from Turkey across the border to assist their brethren in the battle
against IS at Kobane. While the General Assembly vote was underway,
Turkish fighter jets were bombing a Kurdish village.
It appears that Erdogan's obstinacy and pro-Sunni position has
prevented him from realizing that Assad needn't be the main target for
the moment - and worldwide opinion seems to suggest that the growth
of the openly barbaric and power-hungry IS is of greater concern.
The Spanish daily newspaper El Pais said that "what is important in
the UN is not so much about having friends as having fewer enemies"
- and Turkey has been busy making enemies all over the region and
beyond. While an anti-Turkey campaign can always be counted on from
Armenia, Cyprus and Greece, due to historical wounds that were never
healed, and while they haven't been able to count on the vote and
lobbying influence of Israel since a falling-out in 2010, other
countries in the region have started to pile on the pressure.
An Embarrassing Loss
Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia lobbied
hard against Turkey for its pro-Muslim Brotherhood stance,
while Shia-dominated countries are concerned with how Erdogan is
rabble-rousing to focus minds on Sunni-Shia sectarian divides. Erdogan
has professed support in the past for Sunni militants such as IS
and Al-Nusra.
Beyond Turkey's immediate neighborhood yet more influence is being
lost. A bitter quarrel between Erdogan and his former ally, the
popular preacher Fetullah Gulen put paid to much of the African vote.
Gulen has a powerful following worldwide, particularly in Africa,
with a lot of schools, charities and influence.
TURKEY-GULEN/ REUTERS/Selahattin Sevi/Zaman Daily via Cihan News
AgencyIslamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence
in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania in this December 28, 2004 file photo.
In 2009, Turkey's previous fruitful attempt to join the security
council was partly thanks to Gulen's "Hizmet" Organisation campaigning
in that part of the world.
For the past 18 months he and Erdogan have been at war, with Erdogan
trying to shift his supporters out of the public domain and otherwise
diminish his capabilities inside and outside of Turkey. By way of
vengeance it seems that the Hizmet organization has triumphantly
campaigned against Turkey this time around.
Losing clout in these regions might not have dealt the Turkish
delegation a mortal blow, had other aspects of Erdogan's governance
been popular worldwide. But the way the country is being managed
is causing concern, with well-documented evidence of increased
anti-democratic behaviour.
While this hasn't prevented Venezuela or Angola from entering the
Security Council, it seems to have helped tip the balance for a lot
of General Assembly members.
Turkey always had a difficult hand to play, as it is rather unusual
to be voted onto the Security Council twice in four terms, and needed
a watertight campaign. A change of tactics regarding Syria, a less
bellicose voice in the region, and some sort of truce with Gulen,
would have helped matters tremendously.
"We will not abandon this stance for the sake of votes. We will
continue to be the voice and conscience of countries that expect
this from us" said Cavusoglu, odd considering the money and efforts
invested in victory.
But Turkey ought to relish the election in 2018 against Israel,
Germany and Belgium, and perhaps now would be an opportune moment
for rumination.
Erdogan was very keen on this victory, and needs to examine the
reasons for defeat. The question is, are the characters involved
capable of the kind of soul-searching needed to understand and deal
with their mistakes?
Blaming meddling outsiders, protesters, Israel, journalists, or even
the "Interest Rates Lobby", seems to suffice to his own supporters.
But as we learned this week, the rest of the world isn't so easily
duped.
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-turkey-got-snubbed-at-the-un-2014-10