Ministers of foreign affairs are, generally, treated as officials tasked to perform the act of realpolitik. Therefore, they are presumably exempt from paranoid behavior that many politicians may display. However, one such minister of foreign affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey, who was until recently considered to be a skilled realpolitik actor, demonstrated that he is not an exception to paranoia that is spreading like wildfire among the Turkish leaders that Turkey is targeted by an international — i.e., Western — conspiracy.
Only a day after the US-based watchdog Freedom House, in its "Freedom of the Press 2014" report that was released May 1, relegated Turkey from the league of “partly free” countries to the league of “not free” countries, Davutoglu exploded. Speaking at a joint news conference with Omani Foreign Minister Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah in Ankara on May 2, he said, “No one can put Turkey in that category. All kinds of opinions are openly voiced in Turkey. In this sense, the press freedom in Turkey is freer than some countries called 'partly free.'”
