Ban
Talks Syria
& Cyprus
with Ergogan,
As Finns &
Aussies Try
Out for SC
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 26 --
South Korea,
Turkey, Gabon,
Australia and
Finland: with
leaders of
these five
countries UN
Secretary
General
met and issued
readouts in
his first
three days in
Seoul. The
latter
two are
competing for
a Security
Council seat
later this
year. Ban's
Turkey readout
said only:
"The
Secretary-General
met with H.E.
Mr. Recep
Tayyip
Erdogan, the
Prime
Minister of
Turkey, on the
margins of the
Seoul Nuclear
Security
Summit today.
They discussed
the latest
developments
regarding
Syria
and Cyprus."
It
seemed strange
for example
that Palestine
would not be
discussed.
Inner City
Press
asked Ban's
Deputy
Spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey, who
replied that
the
meetings are
private and
the readouts
are agreed to.
One wonders,
why
wouldn't
Erdogan want
it known if
he'd raised
Palestine?
By
contrast,
Ban's read out
with Lee
Myung-bak was
decidedly more
detailed,
devoting seven
sentences to
North Korea,
two to Syria,
and a single
passing
reference to
South Sudan,
because the
Republic of
Korea is
sending a
small engineer
unit there.
South
Korean
activists
wondered why
Jeju Island, a
world heritage
site being
destroyed for
a military
base, wasn't
mentioned.
South Korean
police
kept the press
away from what
was supposed
to be a Barack
Obama press
opportunity.
Finland
and
especially
Australia
seemed to be
auditioning
for the
Security
Council seat
they are
seeking by
requesting a
detailed
agenda and
readout. For
Australia's
Julia Gillard,
beyond Syria
and Rio+20,
which Ban also
raised to
Gabon's Ali
Bongo
"The
two
leaders also
exchanged
views on
regional and
global issues,
including the
Iranian
nuclear
programme, the
Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korea, Fiji,
Papua New
Guinea,
Myanmar,
Timor-Leste
and
the Solomon
Islands. On
the Pacific
Islands Forum
(PIF), the
Secretary-General
said he looked
forward to a
UN-PIF
leaders'
meeting
on the margins
of the General
Assembly later
this year."
A
PIF issue
that's
relevant but
probably not
brought up is
French
Polynesia,
which has
asked for
decolonization,
something the
UN used to be
in favor of.
On
Myanmar, Inner
City Press on
Monday in New
York asked
Ban's deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey if the UN
is
concerned that
the Burmese
government is
saying that at
least three
constituencies
in Kachin
State cannot
vote in the
upcoming
election.
Del Buey
replied that
if it's for
security, it's
understandable.
And
what does
Ban's outgoing
(or gone)
chief of staff
Vijay Nambiar,
now
only on
Myanmar, have
to say?
Finland's
Sauli
Niinistö
had a set of
issues and
thus platform
different from
Australia's,
they
"discussed
preparations
for the Rio+20
conference,
matters
pertaining to
nuclear
safety and
security, the
Middle East
peace process
and work on
the
planned
conference on
establishing a
nuclear-weapon-free
zone in the
Middle East
region."
This
is
understandably
less regional
top-heavy than
Australia, and
issues of
concern to a
wider range of
UN members.
Score one for
Finland?
In
the past, Ban
has been
quoted as
telling
particular
countries he
will support
their
bids for
Security
Council seats,
then taking it
back or
"clarifying"
it. None of
that here:
just read-outs
as political
footballs,
more
issues with
Finland than
with Turkey,
if you can
believe the
readouts.
Footnote:
On
what some call
his Impunity
Roadshow, Ban
Ki-moon
apparently did
not ask
Thailand why
it voted
against the
Human Rights
Council
resolution on
accountability
in Sri Lanka,
and why still
supports
alleged war
criminal
Shavendra
Silva, whose
58th Division
is depicted
in the Killing
Fields film
and even Ban's
own Panel of
Experts report
as shelling
hospitals and
killing
surrenderees,
as a Senior
Adviser
on
Peacekeeping
to Ban.
Ban's
focus
appears
elsewhere:
much energy
went into
publicizing
that in
Singapore an
orchid was
named after
Ban....
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