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Türkiye’s FAO bid: Where Washington stands as the 2027 race takes shape
Erdoğan has urged countries to back former agriculture minister Mehdi Eker to lead the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. The United States, which casts one vote like every member, has yet to name its own candidate for the 2027 election.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on the international community to support Türkiye’s candidate to lead the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), former agriculture minister Mehdi Eker. In a video message to the opening of the World Food Forum at FAO headquarters in Rome on Oct. 12, Erdoğan said: “We are counting on your support for Dr. Mehdi Eker, who successfully served as our agriculture minister for many years.”
Eker, a veterinarian born in Diyarbakır in 1956, ran Türkiye’s agriculture ministry from 2005 to 2015. He is the first candidate Türkiye has ever fielded for the agency’s top post. He launched his campaign at an FAO Council session in Rome in June and said in late September that about 100 member states had pledged their support.
One country, one vote
FAO member countries choose the director-general by secret ballot at the organization’s conference in Rome, and each member has a single vote. The next election is expected in summer 2027, when the second term of Director-General Qu Dongyu of China ends on July 31. The winner serves four years and can be re-elected once.
Under that system, Washington has the same single vote as any other member, but it brings funding and diplomatic weight to the race. In a March letter to President Donald Trump, a coalition of U.S. farm and agriculture groups said the United States remains FAO’s largest financial contributor, even though no American has led the agency in more than 70 years.
No US candidate so far
The agricultural news service DTN reported in mid-September that the U.S. had not formally nominated anyone. About 100 agricultural groups have urged the administration to back Beth Bechdol, an American who serves as one of FAO’s deputy directors-general.
The last contested race showed the limits of U.S. influence. In 2019, Washington supported Georgia’s Davit Kirvalidze, who won 12 votes, while China’s Qu took the post in the first round with 108 of 191 votes cast and France’s Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle received 71. In 2023, Qu ran unopposed and was re-elected with 168 of 182 votes.
European rivals
Eker is up against several European contenders. Ireland has nominated former EU agriculture and trade commissioner Phil Hogan, Italy has put forward FAO Deputy Director-General Maurizio Martina, and the Spanish government has named Agriculture Minister Luis Planas as its candidate.
Eker has built his pitch around food security. “Food security is essentially a global security issue. If your neighbor is hungry, you are not safe,” he told Anadolu Agency in June.
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