Washington Battle Brewing over Nomination of New Turkey Ambassador?

United States State Dept.

Amb. Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr.

With the current American ambassador to Turkey, James Jeffrey, being tapped to take over the U.S. mission in Iraq, it appears that a Washington battle is brewing over who will be the next ambassador in Ankara. As Foreign Policy reports, some neo-conservatives in Washington are not happy about the choice to replace Jeffery: Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr., a former ambassador to Egypt, among other places. From FP's report: 

A behind-the-scenes clash is playing out over President
Obama's nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to Turkey, a key Middle East
post at a time of tense relations between Washington and an increasingly
independent-minded Ankara. The would-be envoy, Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr., is a
32-year veteran of the Foreign Service who most recently served as the deputy
ambassador in Kabul. He's served in Ankara in the past and speaks fluent
Turkish. Ricciardone also played a role in organizing the Iraqi exile community
before the 2003 U.S. drive to Baghdad.But it's his tenure as George W. Bush's envoy to Egypt that
has provoked the most criticism, particularly among neoconservatives who are
hoping to persuade Republican senators to torpedo his nomination. Ricciardone served as the U.S. ambassador in Cairo from
2005-2008. Activists and journalists dubbed those first few years the
"Arab Spring," when street demonstrations, political ferment, and
contested elections in Baghdad, Beirut, and other Arab capitals inspired hope
that the Middle East's stagnant authoritarian regimes -- including that of Hosni
Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt with an iron fist since Anwar Sadat's
assassination in 1981 -- might finally fall.

It would appear that Ricciardone's nomination is getting drawn into the increasingly heated debate in Washington over how to deal with a newly assertive and independent-minded Turkey (take a look at this previous Eurasianet article), since some of the criticism being aimed at him is that the U.S. needs someone in Ankara now who knows how to "use a stick." It may be worth remembering that the last time the neocons had one of their own as ambassador to Turkey -- Eric Edelman, who served in Ankara between 2003 and 2005 -- his use of the stick against the Turks only increased tensions with Ankara and led to calls for him to be declared "persona non grata." It was not a successful tenure, although one which may be instructive for any continuing debate about who should be the next ambassador.