A photograph showing US Ambassador Tom Barrack seated in the defense minister’s office has sparked a controversy in Turkey, with critics arguing that the seating and body language in the photo conveyed an image of dominance inconsistent with diplomatic norms.
Barrack — who is also US President Donald Trump’s special Syria envoy — met with Defense Minister Yaşar Güler in Ankara on Friday.
The picture posted by the defense ministry depicted Barrack positioned alone in the central chair while Güler and senior commanders, including the chief of general staff, were seated to the side.
Social media swarmed with critics who interpreted the image as suggesting the ambassador appeared to dominate the setting, putting Turkish officials in a more subordinate place.
“Is this man an ambassador or a colonial governor?” Lütfü Türkkan, a lawmaker for the right-wing İYİ Party, wrote on X. “It’s nobody’s right to portray Turkey in such a state of helplessness.”
Defense ministry officials, quoted by Turkish media, said the seating protocol was not specific to Barrack and that the same arrangement is applied to all visiting officials.
Veteran diplomatic correspondents said the arrangement was highly unusual by international standards, noting that in established protocol the head of a visiting delegation is not seated in the principal position, while the host’s senior official is placed to the side.
“In nearly 35 years of journalism, including 25 years covering diplomacy, I have never seen such a protocol anywhere in the world,” journalist Barçın Yinanç told Agence France-Presse.
She described the setup as inconsistent with longstanding diplomatic practice, saying that departures from established protocol have become more frequent under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in recent years.
“What makes it even more surprising is that it occurred at the defense ministry, an institution known for its strict adherence to hierarchy and formal rules,” she said.
Critics also said state protocol is uniform and that hosting and reception practices are governed by established national conventions.
“Unless those assigned to handle protocol are individuals lacking professional expertise … they would be expected to be familiar with the state’s established conventions,” said Namik Tan, the main opposition CHP party’s deputy leader and former ambassador to the United States.
‘It should be reviewed’
Contacted by AFP, there was no immediate comment from the US Embassy.
The seating arrangement also drew criticism from the government’s ranks.
“Today’s situation is another protocol misstep that is hard to justify,” former parliament speaker and one of the ruling AKP’s founders Bülent Arınç said on X.
“Although Mr Barrack may have been assigned special tasks by President Trump, he is still the US ambassador to Ankara, with the same status as any other foreign envoy,” he said.
“An ambassador appearing to lead a meeting with the defense minister and military chiefs is inconsistent with state protocol. If such a practice has become customary, it should be reviewed immediately.”
Turkey has faced similar diplomatic protocol controversies in the past.
In 2021 EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was left without a chair during a meeting with President Erdoğan in Ankara.
The incident sparked criticism after then-EU Council president Charles Michel took the only seat next to Erdoğan, a gaffe widely referred to as “Sofagate.”
In 2010 Israel publicly snubbed Turkey’s then-ambassador Oğuz Çelikkol following Ankara’s criticism of the Jewish state, with an official refusing to shake the envoy’s hand and seating him on a lower chair during a meeting.
© Agence France-Presse