Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis on Saturday said that the candidacy of Turkish diplomat Feridun Sinirlioglu constituted a “political oxymoron and a deep institutional contradiction”.

“It is, indeed, an oxymoron for a country that for 52 years has continued to illegally occupy 37 per cent of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, a member state of the United Nations, and to disregard Security Council Resolutions, to claim the leadership of the very organisation that was founded to defend international peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states,” he said, speaking to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA).

Feridun Sinirlioglu was nominated as Turkey’s candidate for the next UN Secretary-General on Saturday.

He served as Turkish foreign minister in 2015 and currently holds the position of the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Letymbiotis said that the Sinirlioglu’s candidacy confirmed Turkey’s “hypocrisy” and accused Turkey of revisionism, aggression and the circumvention of international law, the UN charter and the law of sea, as well as military involvement in regional conflicts and violations of the rule of law and human rights.

“You cannot claim to lead the UN when you refuse to respect the principles on which it is founded. You cannot claim to represent international law when you continue to violate it,” Letymbiotis said.

He referred to the electoral process of the UN’s new Secretary-General, saying it was at an advanced stage and was governed by particular institutional and diplomatic parameters.

Letymbiotis emphasised that the Security Council’s evaluation process would consider the characteristics, qualifications and track record of each as well as the stance of the country proposing him or her towards the UN charter, international law and the decisions of the Security Council itself.

The second term of current UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres comes to an end following a ten-year term on December 31.

The following Secretary-General is set to take office on January 1, with seven candidates currently competing to succeed Guterres as the tenth leader of the UN since its founding in 1945.