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.
![WW1-CENTURY/FRANCE-CEREMONY Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu leave a commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, 100 years after the end of the First World War, at the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, France, November 11, 2018. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS - RC14BD6A5800](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2019/01/RTS25H6Q.jpg/RTS25H6Q.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=FQRKPcet)
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.