The Daily Beast’s 2022 headline — “Jeff Flake Got More Than He Bargained For” — becomes more accurate by the day. The ex-senator from Arizona assumed the U.S. ambassadorship to Turkey a month before Russia invaded Ukraine, just across the Black Sea from Turkey. Then, a year and a half later, war broke out to the south, when Hamas attacked Israel.
When reminded of the headline during an interview Thursday, Flake smiled. “Napoleon said, ‘If the world was a country, Istanbul would be its capital,’” he said. That’s especially true when “the world is in upheaval.”
Turkey borders Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Georgia. It shares the Black Sea with Ukraine and Russia. As a Muslim-majority country, its population is sympathetic to Palestine. “There’s a lot going on,” Flake said.
Flake visited Salt Lake City on Thursday to speak at the Crossroads of the World International Trade Summit, hosted by Zions Bank and World Trade Center Utah. During his remarks, he discussed Turkey’s efforts to bolster Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Read more about Flake’s comments during the conference.