Journalist Deniz Zeyrek writes about a closed-door briefing organized by AKP's media and communications chief Faruk Acar, at which Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke to senior editors and Ankara bureau chiefs from pro-government outlets about Turkey's foreign policy. Zeyrek identifies three problems with the meeting.
First, the audience was entirely composed of loyalist media — making the 'Turkey's Foreign Policy Perspective' framing misleading; it was effectively an AKP party briefing. Second, Fidan spoke entirely off the record, meaning nothing could be published or attributed to him — raising the question of why such an elaborate gathering was organized at all. Third, Zeyrek argues the foreign policy 'success story' being presented is thin: Turkey has not been drawn into active conflict, but little else qualifies as a genuine achievement.
Zeyrek then lists four foreign policy vulnerabilities that Fidan's briefing glossed over: Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa's diplomatic outreach to the Greek Cypriot administration despite Turkish support for his government; the Gaza Peace Council — which Turkey joined at Trump's urging — issuing a statement that effectively sided with Israel against the aid flotilla intercepted near Turkish waters; Trump's Iran policy hammering the Turkish economy; and Turkey's oscillating relationship with the EU, while European powers deepen ties with Greece and Cyprus on security.
Zeyrek closes with an internal politics angle: he suggests the real purpose of the meeting was Acar positioning himself against Communications Director Burhanettin Duran, using ministerial access to build his own profile. He asks whether Duran will tolerate it — and which side cabinet ministers will take if a rivalry develops.
