In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton dated Aug. 16, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) enumerated the reasons that prompted him to place a hold on Frank Ricciardone’s nomination, saying that the latter is not “the right Ambassador for Turkey at this time - despite his extensive diplomatic experience.”

“My concerns about Ricciardone’s work on Iraq and Egypt lead me to similar concerns about his approach to a number of issues in our relationship with Turkey,” Brownback noted in his letter. He then noted that the ruling AK Party “is moving away from its secularist roots” and highlighted the importance of not ignoring the secularist political opposition in Turkey.

“Next year’s pivotal elections provide an opportunity for the secularists to demonstrate their strength, and we cannot let our desire for a strong bilateral relationship translate into de facto support of the ruling party, especially if we have reason to believe that opposition parties are in danger of being marginalized,” Brownback argued.

In the concluding paragraph of his letter, Brownback expressed concern that the U.S. has not fully explored the possible consequences “of a Turkish tilt toward Iran and away from Israel,” Armenian Weekly reported.