Greek Cypriots are lobbying against Türkiye’s candidate for the post of U.N. Secretary-General, according to Greek Cypriot media. The Greek Cypriot administration engaged in diplomatic efforts to block support for Feridun Sinirlioğlu, a veteran diplomat and former foreign minister who was interviewed at a U.N. session on Friday.
Greek Cypriots argue that Türkiye advocates for the sovereignty of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and hence, Sinirlioğlu cannot be eligible, though the prospective U.N. chief pledged impartiality in his U.N. affairs and reiterated his past work to that extent, especially in his current tenure as secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
According to Greek Cypriot newspaper Fileleftheros, the campaign launched by the Greek Cypriot administration against Sinirlioğlu is primarily rooted in the Turkish diplomat’s defense of Türkiye’s positions on the Cyprus issue. The Greek Cypriot administration also cited a letter Sinirlioğlu sent to the U.N. on May 19, 2022, when he was Türkiye’s permanent representative to the U.N., as a reason for opposing his candidacy. In the letter, he defended Türkiye’s position that the legal existence of the 1960 Republic of Cyprus, established as a partnership state, had come to an end after Turkish Cypriots were excluded from its institutions in 1963. The Greek Cypriot administration placed the Turkish diplomat’s support for the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriot people and a settlement model based on the existence of two separate states on the island at the center of its campaign against his candidacy.
Responding to questions from Greek Cypriot and Greek representatives during the interactive dialogue at the United Nations, Sinirlioğlu said he had been nominated by Türkiye but would not act as a representative of any country if elected U.N. secretary-general. Stressing that he had previously demonstrated his ability to serve impartially and independently in international organizations, he said the U.N. Charter would guide him on all international issues, including the Cyprus question. The Turkish diplomat also recalled that Greece had supported his election to his current post as OSCE Secretary-General.
