Turkey presents candidate for UNGA presidency

By Firdevs Bulut and Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey presented the candidate for presidency of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly from the Western European and Others Group (WEOG), of which Turkey is a member.

Ambassador Volkan Bozkir -- former EU minister and chief negotiator, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey -- was presented for the position, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced Saturday.

"Ambassador Bozkir is expected to be elected as the President of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly at the meeting of the General Assembly of 12 June 2020 and formally assume his duties for the duration of one year on 15 September 2020," the written statement said.

The ministry said Bozkir's candidature was endorsed by WEOG as of Feb. 27, 2020 in view of "high qualifications" of the candidate, as well as Turkey’s "effective campaign".

"Turkey is a strong advocate of multilateral diplomacy and the rules-based global order. UN General Assembly, where all UN member states are represented on an equal footing is at the center of this order," it added.

The statement underlined in this framework that the presidency of the General Assembly is the "highest ranking position" in the UN system.

It is also important that Ambassador Bozkir will assume this prestigious position, as a candidate for the first time from Turkey and at a period when the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2020, the statement added.