The Senate on Wednesday, moving at what can be called warp speed in the post-”nuclear option” world, confirmed seven more Obama nominees — including career Foreign Service officer John R. Bass as ambassador to Turkey, a country critical to the effort to defeat the Islamic State militant group. The Senate held a roll call vote on the nomination — before voting 98 to 0 to confirm him.John R. Bass was Ambassador of the United States to Georgia from 2009 to 2012. Ambassador Bass is from upstate New York, and is a graduate of Syracuse University.[1] He speaks Italian and French.[1] In October 2012 he was appointed executive secretary of the State Department and will with the help of four deputies, serves as the liaison and the between the State Department's many bureaus and the leadership offices of the secretary, the deputy secretaries, and the undersecretary for policy. The executive secretary's office also manages relations between State and the White House, the NSC, and the other cabinet-level agencies.
Mavi Boncuk |
Testimony of John R. Bass
Ambassador-Designate to the Republic of Turkey
July 15, 2014 | Senate Foreign Relations Committee
"...I’ve watched Turkey’s transformation into a modernized G20 economy and a confident partner of the United States in many new areas of the world. Our partnership has never been more important – or more complex.
Our core security partnership has anchored our relationship for decades – and with good reason. A NATO ally for 62 years, Turkey has bordered potential or active conflicts for that entire period. In recent years, it has stood with us in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Libya... Even before ISIL’s metastasis into Iraq, Turkey was grappling with the spillover of terrorism and violence from the war in Syria. Over 70 Turks have died as a result of cross-border fire or terrorism emanating from Syria.
Just as the United States has provided more than $2 billion in humanitarian assistance for Syrians affected by this conflict, Turkey has also borne a significant burden from hosting more than one million displaced Syrians. "
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