FM: Certain Gulf countries lobbying against Turkey

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has criticized certain Gulf countries regarding the elections for the U.N. Security Council's non-permanent membership for 2015 and 2016.

"At that time, the humanitarian crisis in Kobani had just broken out. Countries mistakenly thought that Turkey was doing nothing about Kobani," Çavuşoğlu said.

"We saw that because of this, and because of our relations with Egypt, some Gulf States lobbied against us."

Turkey lost its bid for a seat on the Council in a runoff vote against Spain, after both countries failed to garner the required number of votes in the first two rounds. Spain won on the third ballot, receiving 132 votes to Turkey's 60 votes.

The foreign minister also stressed that Turkey sought U.N. Security Council membership for Palestine as well.

Çavuşoğlu said some Muslim countries in the region, who were trying to punish Turkey with the Security Council vote, actually punished Palestine with their attitude. "If we were a member of the U.N. Security Council, the efforts for Palestine would have not been wasted." The Council rejected last week a draft resolution calling for an end to Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory within three years. The motion, which was submitted by Jordan after having been agreed upon by Arab states, failed to win the minimum nine votes required from the 15-member council, with both the U.S. and Australia voting against the proposal.

When he was asked about what is needed for Turkey to normalize its relations with Egypt, Çavuşoğlu said "What problems can we have with the Egyptian people and with the state?"

Çavuşoğlu added: "Our problem is with the government and its actions that oppress the brotherly Egyptian people."

"Egypt has to transform itself into a democracy. Political prisoners should be released, and those jailed should not be tortured," the minister said. Çavuşoğlu also said that stability in Egypt is important for the Islamic world, Middle East, Palestine and Turkey.