NEW YORK - A senior Turkish diplomat said on Tuesday that Turkey would contribute more directly to regional and world peace and security if it secured a non-permanent seat at the United Nations (UN) Security Council.
Baki Ilkin, Turkey`s permanent representative to the UN, told AA correspondent that Turkey was working to strengthen peace and security in its own region.
"If it joins the council, it will have the opportunity to contribute more directly to peace and security," he said.
The UN General Assembly will vote for non-permanent seats at the UN Security Council for the term 2009-1020 on October 17th. 192 countries will join the voting.
Turkey, competing in the Western European and Others Group, has to win votes of 128 votes (or votes of two-thirds of countries joining the voting) to secure a seat at the UN Security Council. Austria and Iceland are the other candidates in this group. Only two countries can become a non-permanent member of the security council for the period of 2009-2010.
Ambassador Baki Ilkin said that the last time Turkey shared a two-year UN Security Council membership with Poland was in 1961.
Ilkin said that 30 percent of issues on the council`s agenda was comprised of problems that occurred in Turkey`s vicinity, and enumerated them as Kosovo, Iran`s nuclear program controversy, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestinian-Israeli dispute, Georgian-Russian crisis and Afghanistan.
"If Turkey joins the council, it will contribute to efforts to solve these problems as a regional country," he also said.
Ilkin said that Cyprus cause would not affect the election, but Turkey`s participation in the council would help it explain its views for a settlement in a better way.
The Turkish diplomat wished that Turkey would be elected in the first round of voting, and said that Turkey`s President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan lobbied for Turkey during the visit they paid to New York in September to participate in the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly.
Ilkin also said that Foreign Minister Babacan would visit New York in the following week to lobby for Turkey ahead of the voting for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council.
The United Nations Security Council is the branch of the UN charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization for military action.
The council has five permanent members, including France, China, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.
Ten other members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. The members are chosen by regional groups and confirmed by the United Nations General Assembly. The African bloc chooses three members; the Latin America and the Caribbean, Asian, and Western European and Others blocs choose two members each; and the Eastern European bloc chooses one member. Also, one of these members is an Arab country, alternately from the Asian or African bloc.
Austria was a member of the Security Council twice, including the periods 1973-1974 and 1991-1992, however Iceland has never joined the Council.
Turkey was a member of the council in 1951-1952, 1954-1955 and 1961.
(BRC-AÖ)
(DIP)