By Barçın YİNANÇ
When Hakan Fidan addressed the 14th conference of the ambassadors in August 2023, two months after he was appointed as foreign minister, the message was clear to those present in the hall.
Having led the Turkish Intelligence Agency for 13 years, it became clear from Fidan’s address that foreign policy would be shaped and implemented from a security perspective. While this might not present an abnormality as the world is becoming highly insecure, Fidan took office at a time when Turkey was seeking to normalize its relations with many of its neighbors.
Yet, the war in Gaza consumed most of Fidan’s time in his first year in office. Although it is still early to judge what kind of an impact Fidan’s personality will have on Ankara’s foreign policy, one thing is for certain: he will be remembered for his mission of changing the “mental codes” of the ministry’s staff.
To give you an example, diplomacy requires holding out a hand, especially if you are willing to find a solution via negotiation rather than resort to the use of military power.
Nowadays, a foreign female diplomat going to the ministry might end up having her hand hanging in the air as she might come across a diplomat who refuses to shake hands with women.
What is the general norm in Iran, is a shockingly new phenomenon for the Turkish Foreign Ministry which is witnessing the most radical changes ever seen under the rule of all the AKP governments.
Looking at the pictures of the recruits, headscarved women appear to have recently joined the ministry; which can be considered normal. But a man not shaking hands confirms rumors that members of Menzil, a religious brotherhood, have started to enter the ministry. This phenomenon recalls the bitter memory of the late 2010s when members of the Gülen movement started to “somehow” win the ministry’s once-stringent entry exams.
Indeed, by tradition the ministry seeks to attract the best of the best among university graduates. That’s partly the reason Turkish diplomacy acquired a reputation for being one of the top diplomacy cohorts.
LESSONS FROM THE PAST
To facilitate the entry of the Gülenists, the regulations of the entry exams were changed in the late 2010s. The argument to legitimize the changes was to “democratize” the ministry by not limiting access to the graduates of top universities but enabling students from Anatolian universities to enter as well.
In addition, the opening of dozens of new embassies had led to a huge shortage of personnel. Actually, the ministry always suffered from a shortage of diplomats but it did not want to compromise high standards.
The readers must know the rest of the story: 20% of the ministry’s personnel were removed following the failed coup attempt in 2016.
CHANGES TO ENTRY EXAMS
The AKP could have been expected to have learned their lessons. Yet, if there is no intention of learning from past mistakes, we end up with a sense of deja vu.
At the same conference of ambassadors, Erdoğan instructed Fidan to change the “mental codes” of the ministry and Fidan appears to be delivering on that instruction.
He has appointed an outsider to the personnel department of the ministry. The new changes made for the entry exams in spring 2024 led to suspicions that they aim at facilitating the entry of members of the Menzil brotherhood to the ministry. There are also rumors that priority is also given to those who appear on the list sent by the Turkish Youth Foundation or TÜGVA, a pro-governmental organization headed by the president’s son Bilal.
According to changes made and published in the official gazette on March 1, 2024, the pass grade for the exam has been lowered to 60. In addition, graduates of engineering departments will be able to take the exam.
“We need engineers to secure our missions abroad. We also need them for cyber security,” Fidan’s advisors told the diplomats. There is, however, no answer to the question of “why not create a separate technical status for engineers?” After having worked in the embassy in Somalia there is nothing to prevent these engineers asking to be appointed to crucial diplomatic postings in Brussels or New York.
The minister is not particularly fond of female diplomats. His criticism of those married to foreign nationals is well known. A female Turkish diplomat married to a foreigner had to officially drop her last name for fear of being sidelined in the ministry. Yet, male diplomats married to foreign nationals from Bosnia or Central Asia do not feel so threatened.
