Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Washington last week was contentious, as a heated debate raged over whether President Donald Trump should meet with the Islamist dictator. Critics questioned the timing of the White House meeting, coming as the Turkish military prosecutes attacks against Syrian Kurdish forces, and remains notorious as the world’s largest jailer of professional journalists.
But one element which was largely ignored in the discussion — and yet might impact Trump’s view of his Turkish counterpart the most — is the outsized role played by Erdogan’s government in meddling in U.S. domestic relations, particularly in his backing of American Muslim groups.
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