“It seems that US Ambassador Jeffrey has made several comments on our country’s domestic policy in an interview being published in the Sabah newspaper in a few days,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Saturday.
“In accordance with diplomatic conventions, ambassadors are expected not to make comments on the domestic policies of the countries where they have been serving. In this respect, Mr. Jeffrey should have approached this issue with greater sensitivity and should have refrained from making comments on Turkish domestic political life,” the ministry statement said. It didn’t elaborate on expressions subject to the ministry’s reaction; yet, it is widely believed that Jeffrey’s remarks on civilian-military relations in Turkey have been considered a diplomatic disgrace by Ankara.
“The democratic transformation created by the AK Party government and other elements is obvious. In this case, the need for the military’s strong supervision of the situation inside the country has decreased. And of course there are also conditions required by [Turkey’s] EU accession. The military’s intervention in civilian life should be decreased, it should be entirely abolished,” Jeffrey said in the interview.
