Turkey nominates OSCE Secretary General Sinirlioğlu for UN Secretary-General position

Turkey has formally nominated current OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioğlu for the position of UN Secretary-General. Turkey's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ahmet Yıldız, stated in a statement to Anadolu Agency that they had submitted the candidacy letter to the UN General Assembly President.

Yıldız said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, having considered "Ambassador Sinirlioğlu's necessary qualifications, abilities, and experience in the international arena" for the UN Secretary-General position, found the nomination appropriate and expressed his confidence in him.

Ambassador Yıldız noted that Turkey took this step to facilitate the UN's work given that no mutually agreed-upon candidate had emerged in the race thus far. He also emphasized that they respected the convention for the position to go to a candidate from the Latin America and Caribbean region and that this was the reason they had waited until now. Sinirlioğlu's curriculum vitae and vision statement were attached to the candidacy application letter.

Sinirlioğlu is a senior Turkish diplomat who served as Foreign Minister between August and November 2015 and as Turkey's Permanent Representative to the UN between 2016 and 2023, and currently serves as OSCE Secretary General.