Greece and Cyprus put Turkey's candidate for UN Secretary-General on the spot Thursday, confronting Feridun Sinirlioglu ...

Greece and Cyprus put Turkey's candidate for UN Secretary-General on the spot Thursday, confronting Feridun Sinirlioglu with pointed questions about his country's record on international law and territorial integrity during a formal dialogue before the General Assembly in New York. Greece's ambassador challenged Sinirlioglu directly on Turkey's contested maritime claims in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically the 2019 memorandum of understanding between Turkey and Libya on maritime boundaries. Athens has long argued that agreement effectively erases Greek islands' rights to generate their own maritime zones, a position the European Union has also rejected as incompatible with international law. Cyprus's ambassador went further, pressing Sinirlioglu on a 2022 position he held as Turkey's UN ambassador, in which he argued that the Republic of Cyprus had ceased to exist legally in 1963. The Cypriot diplomat asked plainly whether he now recognizes Cyprus's sovereignty, independence, and status as a full UN member state. She also asked whether he condemns a 2023 attack on UN peacekeepers in Cyprus, in which several were injured while blocking unauthorized construction in the buffer zone. Sinirlioglu, a veteran diplomat with four decades of experience who officially entered the race on October 30, responded with assurances of neutrality and independence, saying the UN Charter would guide his conduct if selected. He stopped short of directly answering either question. His performance in the latest Security Council straw poll reflects the difficulty of his candidacy. He received just three encourage votes against eight discourage votes and four no opinions, well below the nine encourage votes needed to be a viable contender. The frontrunner, Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica, leads with 12 encourage votes but still faces at least three discourage votes, believed to include at least one veto-wielding member. Secretary-General António Guterres's second term ends December 31. #Cyprus #Greece #UnitedNations