Turkey failed on Oct. 16 to win the coveted nonpermanent seat at the UN Security Council that it hoped would reinforce its influence in regional affairs, which has seriously dwindled in recent years. The result is a disappointment for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who hoped for a victory at the United Nations to counter claims that their policies have left Turkey isolated internationally.

Turkey was racing with Spain and New Zealand for the two nonpermanent seats open to the “Western European and Other States Group” for the years 2015-16. New Zealand got elected with 145 votes, gaining the required two-thirds of the vote in the first round.

The race between Turkey and Spain continued until Turkey lost in the third round when its support dropped down to 60 votes — down from 109 in the first round and 73 in the second. Spain’s vote went up to 132 in the final count.

Despite the odds against Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu sounded optimistic the day before the voting, during an expensive reception held by the Turkish delegation in the famous Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City to lobby for Ankara’s Security Council bid.