Turkey expects to win UN Security Council seat

PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Friday, Oct 10, Turkey is expecting to win a seat on the UN Security Council in the key vote next week, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The vote, to take place in the U.N. General Assembly on Oct 16, is for the 10 non-permanent seats on the 15-member council; China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States have permanent seats with the power to veto resolutions.

Turkey needs to obtain two-thirds of the votes, 129 out of 193, to win a non-permanent seat.

Çavuşoğlu said that the government is confident it will be elected during the first round of voting. He is expected to travel to New York for further talks with ambassadors to the UN from a number of countries ahead of the vote.

Turkey was elected to the council for the 2009-2010 term with 151 votes. Turkey was a non-permanent member of the council in 1951-1952, 1954-1955 and 2009-2010. In 1961, the country shared a non-permanent seat with Poland.

Under the UN Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 members, each of which has one vote. Under the charter, all member states are obligated to comply with council decisions.