Armenia, Greece and Cyprus oppose candidacy of Turkish diplomat for the post of president of UN General Assembly

Armenia is demanding a vote on the candidacy of the president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, which will convene in September. The same demand is being made by Greece and Cyprus.

The reason is that only one candidate is running for the post of president – Turkish politician and diplomat Volkan Bozkir.

Anna Nagdalyan, press secretary for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that this is the first time in the history of the UN that “there is only one candidate being put to the vote.”

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Commentary from the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Nagdalyan had more to say on the subject.

She says that in keeping with the UN practice of rotating the post by geographical area, the president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly should be chosen from a Western European country. The only candidate nominated that everyone in the group agreed upon was Turkish representative Volkan Bozkir.

Only 3 of the 193 member states came forward with a request to put it to a vote.

“Armenia, Greece and Cyprus, breaking the protocol of silence, sent letters to the president of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, Tijani Muhammad-Banda, demanding a vote. I want to emphasize that even if one country requests it, a vote must be taken…Armenia and Cyprus submitted a joint letter. It states, in particular, that ‘Turkey threatens the peace and safety of the whole region, periodically violating the UN charter and international law, including UN sanctions in order to achieve dominance in the region,” stated Anna Naghdalyan. 

In the letter, the Armenian side also touched upon the blockade that Turkey has been imposing on Armenia over 30 years, as well as “the ongoing denial, and even justification the Armenian genocide.”

“In their joint letter, Armenia and Cyprus emphasized that the chair of the UN General Assembly should be taken by a representative from a country whose actions and policies are consistent with the norms and declared values of the UN. Obviously, Turkey is not the best candidate to meet these criteria,” said the spokeswoman for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

How the UN president is chosen

A new president is elected three months before the start of the regular session of the General Assembly.

Candidates are nominated from regional groups, which rotate each session: Africa, Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Caribbean, etc.

Elections are held by secret ballot and a simple majority wins. The 74th session of the UN General Assembly opened on September 17 2019 under the presidency of Tijani Muhammad-Bande (Nigeria).

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