Turkey lost its bid to represent the West at the United Nations (UN) Security Council as the five non-permanent seats went to Angola, Malaysia, Venezuela, Spain and New Zealand on Thursday's rounds of vote at the UN headquarters in New York.

The 193-member UN General Assembly elected the organization's newest members to its most powerful chamber. The five countries with the Council's 10 other permanent and non-permanent members are entitled to pass binding peace and security resolutions that apply to the rest of UN's member states.

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Angola, Malaysia and Venezuela all ran uncontested after being chosen for their regional blocs, but still needed two-thirds of the General Assembly votes to secure their seats. All eyes were on the tight race for the two seats allocated to Western Europe.

Turkey, which has long been seen as a top contender for the European seat, lost in a three-way race with Spain and New Zealand, which won in the first round of voting with 145 votes.

In a final runoff with rival Spain, Turkey lost by only 60 votes, a humbling defeat for the country that has made intense lobbying for the top spot in recent months.

International diplomats say Turkey's lost may have been caused by its alienation with international powers, including some of its regional partners which have resented its close ties with groups listed as terrorists, according to Foreign Policy magazine.

However, it was the intense campaign by the Gulf nations that had pushed Turkey off the highly-coveted council seat.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with much of the international community, are still fuming over Ankara's refusal to militarily cooperate with the campaign against the Islamic State.

A NATO member, Turkey has been under intense international pressure to take decisive military measures against the Islamist group which had destabilized the region since overrunning Iraqi and Syrian territories.

Venezuela, meanwhile, is in a rejoicing mood after reclaiming the seat the United States once rallied hard against because of the country's anti-Washington policies.

The seat will give Venezuela a strong voice on matters concerning the international community and is likely to use this platform to back its staunch allies, Russia and Syria, in their diplomatic wrangling with Washington.   

The newly elected members will sit at the UN Security Council for the next two years. They will replace Argentina, South Korea, Australia, Luxembourg, and Rwanda on January 1, 2015. 

TagsUN Security Council members, Turkey, Angola, new zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela, Spain