A video showing a Turkish journalist in Washington claiming that “Turkey gained nothing” from the highly anticipated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, Sept. 25 is making waves across the internet and news media.
The remarks, made by Hüseyin Günay, NTV’s Washington correspondent for the pro-government Turkish channel, were captured by an Associated Press camera outside the White House and circulated online on Monday, Sept. 29. Just a few hour later NTV’s Günay had been fired from his job.
In the footage, the now former NTV’s Washington correspondent also comments on a dispute involving Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Erdogan’s son Bilal, and his son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar, suggesting that internal rivalries are centered on controlling a potential “post-Erdogan Turkey.”
The “hot mic” incident came during Erdogan’s first visit to the White House in six years, a meeting that critics of Ankara described as one in which Turkey made concessions without securing clear benefits on long-standing issues.
During the visit, Trump publicly urged Turkey to halt purchases of Russian oil and hinted at the possibility of lifting sanctions to allow sales of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Ankara—statements that fell short of confirming any change in U.S. policy.
Following the visit, Turkish Airlines signed an agreement to purchase up to 225 Boeing aircraft, a move critics labeled as a “bribe” orchestrated by Erdogan to secure the White House meeting.
