Turkey’s failure to secure a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) election, with a mere 60 votes out of 193 countries this year, has indicated an erosion of Turkey’s international standing, as well as relaying a strong message of the disapproval of the country’s foreign policies, particularly in the Middle East. Five non-permanent seats on the UNSC were up for grabs in Thursday’s election, during the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York and Turkey failed in its bid against New Zealand and Spain in the Western Europe and other countries group. Apart from New Zealand and Spain, Angola, Malaysia and Venezuela succeeded in gaining a non-permanent seat on the UNSC, to serve for two years, starting on Jan. 1, 2015. Thursday’s embarrassing failure with only 60 votes in favor is a far cry from its success with a record 151 votes back in 2008 for the same seat. Turkey’s non-permanent seat for 2009-2010 was considered by then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a reflection of the country’s increasing weight in international politics and the confidence that the international community had in Turkey. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has spent the past week in New York strongly lobbying for votes from the 193 members of the General Assembly. Çavuşoğlu hosted a reception in one of New York’s iconic hotels for politics, Waldorf Astoria, the night before the vote. At a parliamentary group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said: “No one should have any doubt about it [Turkey’s success in obtaining a seat]. I was in contact with our foreign minister, who is in New York. The election will be on Thursday. If we are elected, it will be the first time that a country is elected for a second time, after a five-year break.” Turkey was competing against New Zealand and Spain for two seats available in the Western countries group. In the first run, New Zealand succeeded in grabbing one of the seats. In the first ballot, Turkey received 109 votes and in the second round the number of votes reduced to 73. In the final ballot, Spain made it and Turkey was able to gather only 60 votes. Speaking to journalists in New York, Çavuşoğlu said Turkey could not abandon its principles for the sake of getting more votes. Turkey has been on the receiving end of harsh criticism, particularly from the Western world on its insistence on removing the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, turning a blind eye to the foreign fighters crossing into Syria via Turkey to join the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its reluctance to contribute to the US-led campaign against ISIL. On his Twitter account, Çavuşoğlu congratulated Angola, Venezuela, Malaysia, New Zealand and Spain for having been elected as non-permanent members to the UNSC for 2015-2016. “In a tremendous upset, Turkey lost a contest in the United Nations General Assembly, exposing increasingly contentious frictions with some of its neighbors and world powers,” stated Newsweek magazine on Thursday on its website. Newsweek reported that in the past few days, according to several diplomatic sources, Egypt and Saudi Arabia campaigned intensely against Turkey’s membership. Turkey’s relationship with both countries has been derailed due to President Erdoğan’s support for the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, which is considered a terrorist organization in these countries. Turkish diplomats in New York were telling journalists that about 160 countries promised Turkey to support its bid to secure a seat before the election on Thursday. The countries cast their votes in a secret ballot. Retired Ambassador Ünal Çeviköz said the result was no surprise. Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Çeviköz said Turkey has increasingly moved away from the international community, become isolated and reduced its chances to gain such a position. He said that in 2008 Turkey’s relations with its neighbors and its position globally were very positive and the country followed a proactive foreign policy. Çeviköz pointed out that Turkey’s name is now being used constantly with negative incidents. “Turkey has followed a foreign policy that alienated itself from the Western world. Following the Arab Spring, Turkey’s relations, not only with its allies in the West, but with Arabs and Muslim neighbors have not been in good shape. What has changed is Turkey’s position — because Turkey is going against the international community, going against the current,” he said. Çeviköz stressed that the Gezi Park incidents of last year and the Dec. 17 graft probe have contributed to the loss of prestige for Turkey, as signs of shifting authoritarianism. He said Turkish officials are acting as if the international community is at fault, rather than admitting their own faults. “The most important issue is the battle against ISIL at this time. Turkey, unfortunately, is not able to give a message that it stands with them [the coalition],” Çeviköz said. Former Ambassador and former deputy of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deniz Bölükbaşı pointed out that Turkey lost due in part to not knowing the rules in the UN and becoming a candidate again, even though Turkey retained a seat a short time ago. Bölükbaşı pointed out that the Dec. 17 graft scandal and certain anti-democratic steps have caused Turkey to lose prestige in the eyes of the world. Stressing that the non-permanent seat in the UN is not an indication of prestige, Bölükbaşı said the AK Party government needs to show some success in the foreign policy area with such symbolic steps. “Turkey did not expect only 60 votes,” Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, an academic at Ankara’s Gazi University and head of Ankara’s International Strategic and Security Research Center, told Today’s Zaman on Friday. “There is a message to Turkey and its foreign policy here [with the UN vote], regarding the disapproval of these policies. Whether Turkey is going to get this message and what will be its reaction to it will be important,” said Erol. “Turkey is experiencing problems with the West on the Middle East issues. Back in 2008, Turkey’s relationship with the West was much more healthy and positive. At this time, there are serious differences of interest between Turkey and the West on ISIL, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK], Syria and Iraq policies. I see the decrease of votes in the UN from 151 in 2008 to 60 votes this year as a reflection of the crisis between Turkey and the West,” Erol added. Loğoğlu urges Erdoğan and Davutoğlu to apologize to Turks Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Adana deputy and a veteran diplomat Faruk Loğoğlu told Today’s Zaman on Friday that the embarrassing result for Turkey was inevitable due to the loss of prestige for Turkey with the AK Party government’s policies. “No one has told the tale of Turkey’s successful foreign policy by Erdoğan and Davutoğlu at the UN General Assembly and the international community reacted to the AK Party’s policies that are damaging regional and global peace and stability, by saying, ‘No, we don’t believe you any more’.” He stressed that it was unrealistic to expect votes from the West to Turkey, “as a country which doesn’t respect democracy, the rule of law and human rights.” Loğoğlu also said the Arab world does not want Turkey anymore, either. Loğoğlu said he condemns Erdoğan and Davutoğlu for putting Turkey in such an embarrassing position and urged both leaders to apologize to the Turkish people. Spanish El Pais daily reported on Friday that Turkey has become a victim of its hesitant attitude toward ISIL and an aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East. The daily said: “What is important in the UN is not as much about having friends as having fewer enemies.” Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy welcomed the news of Spain’s win and said on Friday that the result shows the international community’s trust in his country. (Cihan/Today’s Zaman)