Türkiye has formally nominated Feridun Sinirlioglu, secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as a candidate for UN secretary general, Turkish foreign ministry sources told Anadolu Agency.
Friday's decision followed an impasse in the selection process, with the latest straw poll at the UN Security Council ending inconclusively.
In a letter to the presidents of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, Türkiye's UN envoy Ahmet Yildiz transmitted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's nomination letter, in line with the UN Charter and a General Assembly resolution.
Sinirlioglu is a veteran Turkish diplomat who has served as Secretary General of the OSCE since December 2024.
He holds a master's degree and a PhD in political science and international relations from Bogazici University.
Sinirlioglu began his diplomatic career at Türkiye's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1982.
He subsequently held postings at Turkish embassies in The Hague and Beirut and served as Türkiye's political counsellor at the United Nations in New York (1992–1996).
He served as Türkiye's foreign minister in 2015.
From 2016 to 2023, he was Türkiye's permanent representative to the United Nations.
In April 2023, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed him special coordinator for the independent assessment of Afghanistan mandated by the Security Council.
In December 2024, he became the first Turkish national appointed OSCE secretary-general.
The election
A candidate needs at least nine votes in the Security Council to secure the required support, while any of the five permanent members, the US, China, France, Russia and the UK, can block a candidate with a veto.
The eventual nominee must be appointed by the General Assembly, with that step generally considered a formality once the Security Council has reached an agreement.
Current Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' term ends on December 31.
Eight candidates have so far been nominated: Costa Rican diplomat Rebeca Grynspan, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi of Argentina, former Senegalese President Macky Sall, Guyana’s UN Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, former UN General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Ugandan politician and diplomat Olara Otunnu and Ecuadorian diplomat Ivonne A-Baki.
The next secretary-general is expected to begin a five-year term next January 1.
The Security Council straw poll was devised in the early 1980s in an attempt to break a deadlock between two candidates shut down by vetoes.
The informal mechanism has persisted, in various forms, despite criticism from countries opposed to the opaque process.
Each of the 15 Security Council members must anonymously assign each candidate one of three labels: "encourage", "discourage", or "no opinion".
