Turkey’s president, a man used to steamrolling his critics at home, is in for a rough visit to Washington.
As Recep Tayyip Erdogan began making the rounds in the U.S. capital Wednesday, dozens of foreign policy thinkers, including former ambassadors to Turkey, released a letter warning that the situation in the country is “deeply troubling.”
The letter, which is heavy on right-leaning and neoconservative signatures, came as the White House tried to downplay questions about why President Barack Obama wasn’t holding a formal bilateral session with the Turkish leader by saying the two would probably have an informal chat.
Erdogan, who leads a party with Islamist roots and is in town in part to attend the Nuclear Security Summit, also is slated to speak at the Brookings Institution on Thursday. A Q&A is planned, during which the Turkish leader may face some tough questions about the direction he’s taking his country.
Turkey is a key Middle East ally for the U.S. It borders Syria, has sheltered millions of refugees from the war-torn Arab state and allows the American military to use an airbase on its soil to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State.
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