“Oz’s dual citizenship — and his reluctance to renounce Turkish citizenship — will keep the FBI and security managers up at night,” said Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. “And it is fair game to question Oz’s judgment embracing the most reactionary elements in Turkish society.”

Oz has said he maintains his Turkish citizenship to facilitate his ability to oversee care for his mother in Turkey, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. His service in the Turkish military was mandated because he grew up there. For government employees and contractors, giving up dual citizenship has often (but not always) been a requirement to obtain top security clearances — but those restrictions don’t apply to members of Congress.

On the question of Oz’s business ties, National Review laid out a detailed list of instances in which he interacted with individuals and organizations closely linked to Erdogan or doing the Turkish leader’s bidding in the United States. For example, Oz spoke onstage at the 2019 New York conference of the World Turkish Business Council (DEIK) — a group from which many Western companies have distanced themselves since Erdogan’s government took control of it in 2014.