Turkey has officially submitted the candidacy of Feridun Sinirlioğlu, currently serving as Secretary-General of the OSCE, for the position of United Nations Secretary-General. Turkey's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ahmet Yıldız, confirmed that the nomination letter had been delivered to the President of the General Assembly.
Ambassador Yıldız stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan approved the nomination, citing Sinirlioğlu's qualifications, international experience, and capabilities. He also noted that Turkey had waited until now out of respect for the tradition that the UN Secretary-General post should rotate to a candidate from Latin America and the Caribbean, given that no consensus candidate had emerged from that region.
Sinirlioğlu is a veteran Turkish diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs between August and November 2015 and as Turkey's Permanent Representative to the UN from 2016 to 2023. He has held the position of OSCE Secretary-General since then.
In the seventh informal straw poll held in the Security Council, Costa Rican candidate Rebeca Grynspan topped the results with 11 favorable votes. Lana Nusseibeh of the United Arab Emirates, backed by the Republic of Cyprus, received seven positive votes. No consensus candidate has yet emerged from the ongoing selection process.
