Security Council – Work assessment under Turkey presidency (September 2010) – Letter from Turkey (excerpts)

 Letter dated 18 October 2010 from the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council 

 I have the honour to transmit herewith a report on the work of the Security Council during the presidency of Turkey in September 2010 (see annex). The report was prepared under my national responsibility, following consultations with other members of the Council. 

 I should be grateful if you would have the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the Security Council. 

(Signed) Ertuğrul Apakan
Ambassador
Permanent Representative 

Annex to the letter dated 18 October 2010 from the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council 

   Assessment of the work of the Security Council during the Presidency of Turkey (September 2010) 

   Introduction 

 During the month of September 2010, under the presidency of Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the United Nations, the Security Council held eight consultations of the whole and 19 formal meetings, including two private and 17 public meetings.

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   Asia and Latin America 

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   The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question 

 On 17 September, the Special Coordinator of the Secretary-General for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, briefed the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.

 The Special Coordinator called on the Council and the international community to maintain strong support for the recently revived direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, encouraged concrete steps of support from countries in the region, reiterated the Quartet’s call for Israel to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth, in accordance with the road map and reminded Hamas that non-violence, Palestinian unity and acceptance of the basic principles of the peace process was the only route to the attainment of Palestinian aspirations. He reiterated the appreciation of the Secretary-General for the efforts of all facilitators and the Quartet’s full support to the talks, including its call for a resolution of all final status issues leading to the end of the occupation that began in 1967, and the emergence of a Palestinian State living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours. He also drew the Council’s attention to the assessment by the World Bank that if the Palestinian Authority maintained its recent performance in the areas of the economy and institution-building, it would be well-positioned for the establishment of a State at any point in the near future.

 On Gaza, the Special Coordinator said that although the number of truckloads of goods entering Gaza was about half the weekly levels before June 2007, the partial easing of the Israeli blockade had helped generate 16 per cent growth in Gaza in the first half of the year. On the Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla incident that occurred on 31 May 2010, the Special Coordinator explained that the Panel had convened for the second time, received an interim report from Turkey and submitted an initial progress report to the Secretary-General. Turning to the situation in Lebanon, he said that over the past month, there had been increased political tension in the country linked to speculations concerning potential indictments that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon might issue and welcomed amendments to employment legislation, recently adopted by the Lebanese Parliament, to provide Palestinians in Lebanon with greater rights. 

 In the following consultations of the whole, the majority of Council members expressed support for the resumption of direct negotiations between the parties and called for an extension of the settlement moratorium. Many members called also for the resolution of all final status issues in line with the statements by the Quartet, the lifting of the severe restrictions on access of people and goods into Gaza, and the full implementation of resolution 1860 (2009). Some members also expressed concern about the recent spike in violence and called on all regional and international actors to support the ongoing negotiations. Some members welcomed the submission by Turkey of an interim report to the Panel of Inquiry, as well as the Panel’s submission of its initial progress report to the Secretary-General, and also asked that the Council be kept regularly informed of the process.

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