Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2xinjiang070909.html
UNITED NATIONS, July 9 -- The day after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by that "We will put the events happening in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region onto the agenda of the United Nations' Security Council," Inner City Press asked the charge d'affaires of the Turkish Mission to the United Nations Fazli Corman about the quote and if Turkey had in fact made any moves to that effect. "We didn't make any moves on that," Ambassador Corman said. "That reports were not actually based on the realities."
Inner City Press asked if Prime Minister Erdogan had been misquoted. Yes, Ambassador Corman indicated.
This would not be the first time that a member of the UN Security Council said one thing in its country for popular consummation, but never acted on its within the UN in New York. But the Uighurs are a high profile political issue in Turkey, because they are not only Muslims but Turkic.
On July 8, Inner City Press asked two senior diplomats with China's mission to the UN about Prime Minister Erdogan's quote, and wrote about it. The first expressed surprise. It was noted that only on June 25 Turkish President Abdullah Gul met with Hu Jintao in Beijing. The second, higher placed, came to tell Inner City Press that his mission had "demarched" the Turkish Mission to the UN and that nothing would be raised. Other Security Council members, polled by Inner City Press on July 9 on the margins of a Council meeting about Somalia, expressed doubts that Turkey would even raise the issue.
In the hallway after the Council's Somalia meeting was over, Inner City Press approached Ambassador Corman as he finished speaking with U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative Alejandro Wolff and, after some questions about the North Korea sanctions committee that Turkey chairs, asked about Prime Minister Erdogan's quote.
As noted, Ambassador Corman replied that the "reports were not actually based on the realities." One might interpret this to mean, not based on the political and economic realities.
While China has a veto on any substantive decisions by the Council, as to the U.S., France, UK and Russia, there are no veto rights on procedural votes, such as whether to put a situation or conflict onto the Council's agenda. This is why, for example, Myanmar is on the agenda, despite opposition from China and Russia among others. Outgoing UK Permanent Representative John Sawers told the Press that Sri Lanka could have been put on the agenda of the Council earlier this year, the votes were there, but that the unity of the Council was deemed more important.
In this case, some doubt if it is a desire for Council unity that explains the silence in the Council, even of Turkey despite its Prime Minister's quoted comments. China's economic importance, these critics say, give it in effect a double veto, or two forms of veto. While the immediately conflict in Xinjiang may be calming down, the underlying issues remain. But despite what Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan was quoted as saying -- that Turkey would put the issue on the Security Council's agenda -- is remains doubtful this will happen.
