Turkey plans to lobby for Kosovo in 2009
Turkey will support Kosovo within the United Nations when it becomes a temporary member of the Security Council in January 2009, a senior Turkish official said.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, December 23, 2008
"From the beginning of 2009, Turkey will be a temporary member of the UN Security Council ... and wishes that Kosovo become a member of the UN," said Murat Mercan, chairman of the Turkish parliament's Foreign Affairs Commission.
"Ankara will continue to play an important role for the issue of lobbying for Kosovo in the future, especially in the panel of the Islamic Conference," Mercan added, referring to Turkey's stature as a permanent member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, an international body bringing together 56 Islamic states.
A large majority of Islamic states are firmly opposed to Kosovo's unilateral secession, which they view as a major violation of international law and a US "puppet state".
Turkey is a close ally of Washington.
