Türkiye has said that they will not sign a resolution on Sri Lanka presented to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and that a sponsors’ list which was circulated earlier was not accurate.
In a letter to Colombo based Daily Mirror, the Turkish Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Demet Şekercioğlu said that Türkiye (formerly known as Turkey) has not co-sponsored any resolution adopted on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC, neither in the past, nor during the ongoing 51st Session of the Council.
Furthermore, she noted that Türkiye has made an intervention in the interactive dialogue on Sri Lanka held on 12 September 2022 during the 51stSession of the Council.
In its statement, Turkiye highlighted that given the enormity of the social and economic challenges that Sri Lanka is facing, the Sri Lankan Government should be given time to fulfil its obligations and supported during these difficult times.
“After inquiring, it appeared that the mistake was due to the mi-sreference of the draft resolution with the wrong sponsors’ list,” the Ambassador of Türkiye said.
The draft resolution, titled ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ was initially sponsored by the UK, US, Germany, Canada, Malawi, Montenegro and North Macedonia
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry told that a high profile Sri Lankan delegation would undertake an official visit to China possibly in November. However, he did not specify whether it would be at ministerial or presidential levels.
China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditor followed by Japan and India respectively. Sri Lanka and China have started low level discussions on debt refinancing
