US Ambassador to Ankara Flake: We were slow to support Turkey on July 15, 2016
US Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake stated that his country was slow to support AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the government during the FETÖ coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
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Flake, whose 3-year term will end on September 1, made assessments in a statement to Politico magazine on various issues, including the US sale of F-16s to Turkey, the FETÖ coup attempt on July 15, and the situation in the Gaza Strip, where Israel continues its attacks.
Stating that the US was slow to support President Erdoğan and the government during the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, Flake said, "There was criticism at the time that US President Barack Obama did not call President Erdoğan, but Russian President Vladimir Putin did. That bothered us for a while."
Pointing to Turkey's role in the hostage exchange process on August 1, 2024, which involved the mutual exchange of 26 people held in prisons in the US, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway, Russia, and Belarus, Flake said, "The Turks did the logistics. 7 countries, 7 planes came to Ankara, and they did a really great job. This time, the narrative was that US President Joe Biden called President Erdoğan to thank him, but Putin did not. We experienced a reversal."
Regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip, where Israel continues its attacks, Flake also emphasized that it is difficult to imagine a long-term solution to the situation in Gaza without regional actors like Turkey playing a role as guarantors or in the reconstruction of Gaza.
EMPHASIS ON AN INDISPENSABLE PARTNER
Flake stated that during the process of Turkey's approval of Sweden's NATO membership, he held phone calls with US senators Ben Cardin, Jim Risch, Michael McCaul, and Gregory Meeks regarding the F-16 sale to Ankara and convinced them.
Drawing attention to "the existence of well-intentioned people who know that Turkey is an indispensable partner," Flake said, "When the world is at peace, Turkey is only in a geographically important position, but when the world is in turmoil, Turkey is then much more important."
Flake gave the following advice to the next US ambassador:
"Continue to work on every front to improve this relationship. Because I can say that Turkey is an indispensable ally, and we haven't always treated them that way. But they are, and they are a growing regional power. They have the second-largest army in NATO after us. We must do our best to improve this."