Jeff Flake – Pro-democrat Republican Antagonists Turkey and Leads US Embassy in Ankara

Without official protocol, the new US ambassador to Ankara, Jeff Flake, arrived in Turkey to take over from his former counterpart David Satterfield, who was expelled by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his call for the release of opposition businessman Osman Cavalla.

On October 24, 2021, Erdogan said he had ordered the State Department to expel the US ambassador and nine ambassadors to other Western countries for calling for Cavalla’s release, which has been in prison since late 2017, on charges of involvement in the failed 2016 coup attempt.

 

Strange Arrival

Upon his arrival with his wife Cheryl at Istanbul airport on January 7, 2022, US Ambassador Flake made a brief statement to Turkish media, saying, "Happy to be here, thank you for this beautiful reception."

But what is strange about the arrival of the new ambassador is the absence of any Turkish official to receive him, while the media only publishing the news of his arrival in Istanbul supported by a video and pictures, indicating that he will go the next day to Ankara.

Flake was confirmed by the US Senate as US ambassador to Ankara after being nominated for office by President Joe Biden in July 2021.

Flake's candidacy was approved during a vote in the Senate General Assembly on October 27, 2021.

On December 10, 2021, Flake was sworn in at a ceremony at the Eisenhower Administrative Office building in Washington, D.C.

 

Hostile Positions

On October 3, 2021, the Hebrew newspaper Yisrael Hume published a report stating that President Erdogan had said after Biden's nomination to Flake that "Washington must leave Syria sooner or later and leave it in the hands of the Syrian people."

The Hebrew newspaper linked Erdogan's remarks to the inauguration of Flake as US ambassador to Ankara, who agreed to recognize the 1915 allegations as "Armenian genocide."

His support is contrary to his previously stated positions: in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2014, Flake, who represented Arizona in the Senate, voted against genocide recognition laws.

In particular, when asked by the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, whether he had changed his position and was "ready to join this body and the administration in reaffirming the Armenian genocide," Flake said, "Yes."

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee session, he described Turkey's role in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict as "destabilizing," adding, "If my candidacy is approved, I will urge Ankara to support efforts to find a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan."

Flake also promised to defend "democratic values and human rights," saying that he will "continue to practice speaking truth to the power, speaking out and being frank,” when working on these issues, following the steps of previous US ambassador Satterfield.

Flake also made the remarks at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, adding, "I will tell the Turks that any further purchases of the S-400 system will lead to sanctions."

On the other hand, the Turkish president seemed in his usual way, not really affected by the words of Flake, and responded to his remarks, saying that "the purchase of additional S-400 systems is in full swing," according to the Hebrew newspaper.

"I spoke with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin about deepening cooperation, we talked about additional steps related to fighter jets and the construction of fighter jets, and we agreed to work together in the maritime industry, including submarines."

 

Republican Senator

Jeff Flake was born on December 11, 1962, and although he is a Republican, he supported Democratic candidate Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Flake served as senator from Arizona from 2013 to 2019 and was a member of the House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013.

Flake resigned from the Senate in 2019, under the pretext of his reservations about former President Donald Trump's administration and Republican policies, and published a book entitled The Conscience of a Conservative, criticizing Trump.

Following the announcement of his candidacy for ambassador to Ankara, Flake said, "The Biden administration reaffirms through this appointment the best traditions of US foreign policy and diplomacy."

He believed that "party politics must remain an internal issue away from relations with other countries, and that the country's foreign policy can and should be non-partisan."

But in October 2021, The Times confirmed that Flake had been rewarded for supporting President Biden in November 2020, and also using it to add a bipartisan appearance to the current administration, especially since Flake is a former senator with strong ties to the most centrist members of both the Republican and Democratic parties.

"Some of the republican senators who are finally elected consider Flake a traitor to the Republican Party after Trump," it said.

"Flake is the first non-diplomat to be appointed ambassador to Turkey in a long time," the paper said.

Biden's decision was seen as "surprising" to send a political figure to Ankara instead of a professional State Department diplomat, which was assessed as a "response" to the Turkish government's dispatch to Washington by another politician, Murat Mirkan.