By: Bulent Aliriza / CSIS
On May 16 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets President Barack Obama on his first visit to the White House since December 2009. Obama has reserved much of his schedule for the day to his visitor, who has won three successive elections, recently celebrated a decade as prime minister and is brimming with self-confidence. The Turkish leader will receive a very warm welcome from his host that will serve to confirm Erdogan’s view of his country’s enhanced stature in the international community. At the same time, the encounter will provide an opportunity for the two leaders to once again display their much-publicized mutual affinity. However, there are divergences, particularly on the Syrian crisis, that they will attempt to resolve or minimize behind the scenes.
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