Credit: Wikipedia Commons /  Turkish diplomat and politician Volkan Bozkir

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED NATIONS  –  NEW YORK –    Volkan Bozkir of Turkey was elected Wednesday President of the forthcoming session of the UN General Assembly.  Bozkir, a veteran diplomat and parliamentarian, will preside over the landmark 75th session of the UN General Assembly, which opens in September. He was the sole candidate for the post.  Wearing facemasks and practicing physical distancing, ambassadors from 192 UN Member States filed into the iconic but empty General Assembly Hall to cast their ballots during pre-determined time slots: an added layer of protection in the COVID-19 era.

Ambassador Bozkır will assume his duty on 15 September 2020 and, for the duration of one year, will preside over the efforts to contribute to international peace and stability under the tough circumstances we are living. pic.twitter.com/9nAyP2GSG9

— Turkish MFA (@MFATurkey) June 17, 2020

Ambassador Bozkir  served as the Minister of European Union Affairs from November 2015 to May 2016, having previously served from August 2014 to August 2015. He concurrently served as the Chief Negotiator for Turkish Accession to the European Union during the same time.

Turkish Diplomat Will Succeed Nigerian as President of UN General Assembly

Credit: Gary Raynaldo ©Diplomatic Times /   Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, President of the seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly briefs the press after the opening of the first plenary meeting of the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly at world head quarters in New York Sep. 17, 2019.

“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all had to work under extraordinary conditions to overcome the myriad of challenges facing us,” the current General Assembly President, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, said ahead of the elections.  “Indeed (they) represent our common commitment to ensuring the uninterrupted continuation of the important work of the United Nations, in accordance with the values and principles of the United Nations Charter.”

NORWAY and  IRELAND Elected to UN Security Council

NORWAY, IRELAND, INDIA, MEXICO were elected non-permanent seats on the powerful UN Security Council Wednesday. The UN General Assembly held elections for five new members to the Security Council for 2021-2022.  However, in the African Group, although  Kenya came out on top,  the Kenyan votes were  less than the 128 required to win the seat.  Kenya garnered 113 and Djibouti 78 votes, and will have a run-off on Thursday.   The candidates were Canada, Ireland, and Norway, competing for two seats in the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG); Djibouti and Kenya competing for one seat in the African Group; India running uncontested in the Asia-Pacific Group; and Mexico running uncontested in the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC).