Why is Ankara angry about the US 2024 report on Türkiye?
Just as Ankara was expecting an opening and development of relations with Washington, the US diplomatic establishment once again angered Turkey by publishing a detailed report.
The report clearly shows that in Turkey in 2024, security and judicial institutions have committed serious human rights violations; freedom of expression, the press and political protests have faced extensive restrictions, and there are serious concerns about the situation of children’s rights and the lack of statistical transparency.
Since the day Tom Barrack arrived as the new US ambassador to Turkey and became the beloved ambassador and diplomat of Erdogan and Hakan Fidan, everyone expected new developments in bilateral relations. Because, according to media outlets close to the Justice and Development Party, Barrack, as a close friend of Trump and a businessman of Lebanese descent, has a special interest in Turkey and is set to improve the level of relations.
During a visit to the tomb of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, in the memorial office, he introduced himself as follows: “One of the children of your republic outside Turkey.”
By this phrase, Barrack meant his family’s Lebanese descent and distant ties to the Ottoman Empire, and at the same time, his interest in Turkey during the republican era.
However, the publication of the US State Department’s Human Rights Report for 2024 showed that senior researchers and theorists of the diplomatic establishment in the United States do not have a positive view of the Turkish government, neither during the Democratic nor the Republican eras.