The (de-)evolution of Turkey's Foreign Ministry
Career diplomats and Foreign Ministry bureaucrats have been shoved aside and demoralized by the conduct of Turkey's foreign policy under Justice and Development Party governments.
After two decades, Turkey’s diplomats are used to becoming targets of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s disdain. Often accused of being unpatriotic or faint-hearted, the country’s diplomatic elite has seen their power – not to mention their prestige – diminish under the acid-tongue president and his cronies.
The last punch came on Jan. 14 at an off-the-record parliamentarian event, where Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu declared that politically-appointed diplomats –something the Foreign Ministry grudgingly accepted after long resistance– proved to be more successful than career diplomats.
“Ambassadors from outside the diplomatic profession who were appointed by the president are the most successful,” Cavusoglu said in response to complaints by opposition party members that career diplomats were not being promoted to ambassador positions.
“When there is an ambassador to be appointed to a foreign post, we choose the ones most appropriate for the country,” Cavusoglu asserted. “We don't pick arbitrarily.”
