Livaneli had stated that he had never considered becoming a candidate for the director-general position until some of his friends in UNESCO and some international intellectuals suggested he consider it in January. He said a US State Department undersecretary called him at the end of January in that regard and then he was contacted by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee telling him that they would contact Turkish officials to discuss his candidacy. Livaneli said European Union officials were also supportive of his possible candidacy.
He noted, however, that the Turkish government didn't lend support to his candidacy as it might have been engaged in supporting Egypt's candidate for the post. The Foreign Ministry, in a written statement released on Friday, first pointed out the ministry's intense efforts to support Turkish individuals vying for posts at international organizations in the past, citing names such as Kemal Derviş, former head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Hikmet Çetin, a former Turkish foreign minister who served in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2006 as NATO's senior civilian representative; and Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, the current secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), as examples and pledged to continue this support.
The statement, which came in the form of an answer by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Burak Özügergin to a journalist's question, also stressed that the ministry would have supported Livaneli as well, describing him as “a precious Turkish intellectual who has a reputable position almost in every field of arts.”
“However, there has been no application or attempt for candidacy that has been conveyed to our ministry for Mr. Livaneli to become UNESCO's director-general. There is no information either in regards to any application to the UNESCO organization for Mr. Livaneli's candidacy. There has been no official application conveyed to our ministry from any country or group either,” the statement said.
Following news reports on these claims, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu initiated a telephone conversation with Livaneli and informed him about the UNESCO election process, the ministry also said. “The news reports following the finalization of the election process for director-general of UNESCO and statements by Mr. Livaneli are incomprehensible, given all of these aforementioned facts. Additionally, the fact that some information provided by Mr. Livaneli is groundless and unfounded has been met with sadness,” the ministry said.
Officials at the US Embassy in Ankara approached by Today's Zaman, meanwhile, could not comment on Livaneli's claim that he had been promised support from a top US diplomat.
