Biden Taps Republican Jeff Flake to Be Ambassador to Turkey

Politics|Biden taps Republican Jeff Flake to service arsenic ambassador to Turkey

• July 13, 2021, 5:13 p.m. ET

President Biden volition nominate Jeff Flake, the erstwhile Republican legislator from Arizona, to service arsenic ambassador to Turkey, the White House announced connected Tuesday, placing a prominent, mean Republican successful enactment to presume a high-profile diplomatic role.

Mr. Flake, who became 1 the astir vocal Republican critics of Donald J. Trump during Mr. Trump’s presidency, had been mostly absent from the nationalist signifier aft stepping distant from authorities successful 2019. In 2017, helium announced helium would not question re-election the pursuing year, citing the changing look of the G.O.P., which helium said had grown excessively accepting of Mr. Trump’s “reckless, outrageous and undignified” behavior.

Since then, Mr. Flake has rotated betwixt world fellowships astatine Harvard, Arizona State University and Brigham Young University. Mr. Flake was besides 1 of a fig of erstwhile Republican members of Congress who endorsed Mr. Biden for president successful 2020.

The determination to nominate Mr. Flake comes astatine a infinitesimal successful which the Biden medication is aggressively pursuing bipartisan enactment for a fig of legislative priorities and seeking to correspond itself arsenic anxious to enactment with members of the opposing enactment successful the process.

While it was rumored for immoderate clip that the president was considering a fistful of mean Republicans for ambassadorships to intimately allied countries successful Europe and elsewhere, the enactment of Mr. Flake to oversee relations with Turkey demonstrates that the medication is assured that the erstwhile legislator tin navigate hard diplomatic ties with a state that has turned toward authoritarianism nether President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Despite being a subordinate of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkey has repeatedly taken actions successful caller years that the United States and different European countries person viewed arsenic astatine likelihood with the alliance’s overseas argumentation and nationalist information goals.

If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Flake would bring to the relation acquisition moving successful Africa earlier his predetermination to Congress, some arsenic a Mormon missionary successful South Africa and arsenic the manager of the Foundation for Democracy successful Namibia during the nation’s propulsion for independency from South Africa.

“Given the strategical value of the United States’ narration with our longtime NATO ally, the Republic of Turkey, I americium honored and humbled by the spot President Biden has placed successful maine with this ambassadorial nomination,” Mr. Flake said successful a statement accepting the information connected Medium.