Turkey joined the 15-nation UN Security Council as a non-permanent member in January 2009 and will have the seat until the end of 2010. The council is composed of five permanent members -- China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States -- and 10 non-permanent members.
In June 2009, Turkey served as the term president of the UN Security Council for one month. Also in 2009, it chaired the Security Council Sanction Committees for North Korea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
As of 2010, Turkey will be taking over from Croatia chairmanship of the UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee. It will also become the lead council member on Afghanistan in 2010. The post was held in 2009 by Japan, which was elected to the UN Security Council for 2009-2010 in elections in October 2008 along with Turkey, Austria, Mexico and Uganda.
Guided by UN Security Council resolutions, the Counter-Terrorism Committee has been working to bolster the ability of UN member states to prevent terrorist acts both within their borders and across regions. It is assisted in its efforts by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), which carries out the policy decisions of the committee, conducts expert assessments of each member state and facilitates counter-terrorism technical assistance to countries.
