随着穆罕默德·奥兹博士开始竞选美国参议员，这位电视明星在很大程度上回避讨论他与土耳其的关系，他在土耳其保持着公民身份，并驳斥了政治对手对他怀有任何所谓的“双重忠诚”的批评。

但是奥兹在土耳其2018年总统选举中投票的照片让一些国家安全专家感到愤怒——特别是在最近有人说他“从未以任何身份参与土耳其的政治活动。”

“从安全审查的角度来看，在外国选举中投票的决定是有问题的，”约翰·v·贝里(John V. Berry)说，他是一名前政府律师，擅长联邦安全审查。

在经历了艰难的竞选开局后，奥兹最近获得了前总统唐纳德·特朗普令人垂涎的支持，增加了他获得共和党点头的机会。但政治对手继续将他与土耳其的联系作为目标——这一策略被Oz竞选团队和其他人称为仇外诽谤。如果当选，奥兹说他会放弃他的土耳其国籍。

当被问到相片，于2018年6月出现在土耳其驻曼哈顿领事馆的脸书页面上，奥兹竞选发言人布里特妮·亚尼克(Brittany Yanick)向美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)证实了其真实性，并证实奥兹确实在2018年大选中投票。根据Yanick的说法，Oz在反对土耳其总统Recep Tayyep Erdogan的竞选中投票给了反对派候选人Muharrem Ince。她否认奥兹的投票等同于“政治参与”。

土耳其驻纽约总领事馆途经脸书

2018年6月13日，土耳其驻东北总领事馆脸书页面的照片..

“在选举中投票与积极参与土耳其政府的政治工作截然不同，奥兹博士从未参与其中，”亚尼克告诉美国广播公司新闻。“不存在任何安全问题。”

当选官员不像为敏感的政府工作寻求安全许可的平民那样受到同等程度的审查;一旦宣誓就职，议员们就可以接触机密信息，除非行政部门拒绝透露某些信息。

但非营利性公共利益律师事务所国家安全顾问公司(National Security consultants)的执行董事凯尔·麦克拉纳汉(Kel McClanahan)表示，对平民的背景调查过程也可以“提供一个分析某人是否值得信任的框架”。对麦克拉纳汉来说，在另一个国家的选举中投票会触发一个“巨大的、闪烁的红灯”

奥兹在俄亥俄州出生和长大，他说他拥有美国和土耳其双重国籍，以照顾他在土耳其患有阿尔茨海默氏症的母亲。他还在上世纪80年代初在土耳其军队服役60天——据报道是为了保留他的土耳其公民身份——并在土耳其拥有房地产，此外还与该国的国有航空公司土耳其航空公司(Turkish Airlines)签有协议。

“其中任何一个都足以破坏(安全)许可，”麦克拉纳汉说。"综合来看，我不认为那个人有多大机会获得许可."

土耳其投票记录表明，2018年总统选举是奥兹参加的第一次选举。在2014年大选之前，生活在国外的土耳其人只能通过回国或前往设在土耳其边境的投票站投票。

竞选发言人Yanick表示，Oz不打算在2018年的选举中投票，但决定在领事馆讨论他的“代表土耳其叙利亚难民的人道主义工作”时投票。

“那是在选举季节，所以他投了票，”亚尼克说。

美国广播公司新闻采访的其他安全专家对奥兹2018年的投票表示不太担心。美国科学家联合会(Federation of American Scientists)的高级分析师史蒂夫·阿弗特古德(Steve Aftergood)表示，由于奥兹一直对自己与土耳其的关系保持透明，他的双重国籍对他来说更像是一个政治问题，而不是对国家安全的威胁。

“事实上[奥兹]毫不掩饰他的双重国籍对他有利，”阿夫特古德说。"选民将有机会决定这是否与他们有关。"

美国广播公司新闻咨询的安全专家强调，在考虑潜在的外国影响风险时，有问题的国家很重要。一个人与美国的战略盟友、北约成员国土耳其的关系远没有中国或俄罗斯的威胁大。

但近年来，土耳其总统埃尔多安表现出越来越专制的行为，监禁记者并立即压制反对派的声音。埃尔多安还因购买俄罗斯武器系统而与美国关系紧张。

特朗普总统时期的前国家情报总监理查德·格雷内尔(Richard Grenell)将奥兹对土耳其的理解描述为反对威权主义的一项资产。

格雷内尔说:“坦率地说，暗示第一代和第二代美国人不配或被怀疑为美国官员是不符合美国精神的。”“他们见识过法西斯主义和极权主义，实际上对利害关系更加清楚。”

国家安全律师、前特朗普任命的国家安全教育委员会(National Security Education Board)成员肖恩·比格利(Sean Bigley)表示，背景调查人员在调查寻求安全许可的人时，会考虑“整体情况”。比格利说，奥兹的风险组合可能包括他与土耳其现有的金融关系。

根据4月份提交的财务披露，奥兹在土耳其拥有数十万美元的房地产，包括他免费出租给土耳其教育部的一栋建筑。根据他的披露表格，这栋建筑被用作学生宿舍，并且“受到悬而未决的信托和房地产诉讼的影响。”

披露表格还显示，奥兹与土耳其的国旗航空公司土耳其航空公司签订了一份利润丰厚的代言合同。专家表示，自2018年以来，航空公司与埃尔多安的关系越来越密切，当时他自称为主席该国的主权财富基金持有49%的股份。

2018年，奥兹出现在土耳其航空公司的超级碗广告中，2021年，他作为品牌大使出现在一个四分钟的信息中，讨论该航空公司的新冠肺炎安全协议。

奥兹从他在土耳其的利益中积累的任何财富，包括航空交易，都只能反映他全部财务状况的一小部分。Oz披露的信息显示，他和他的配偶总共拥有1.04亿至4.22亿美元的各种资产和持股。

即便如此，比格利说，“如果我是[Oz]的顾问，我会建议剥离任何资产或...与土耳其政府的任何实体有财务联系。”

奥兹因没有利用他的名人地位作为谴责埃尔多安镇压反对派和其他民主倒退的平台而受到批评。一些人认为，Oz在土耳其持续的金融利益阻碍了他批评其领导层，因为这样做会使Oz面临其土耳其资产被没收的风险。

美国对外关系委员会(Council on Foreign Relations)高级研究员史蒂文·库克(Steven Cook)说，“不想成为国家目标的人要么向领导人磕头，要么保持沉默，这是土耳其体制和更普遍的威权体制的本质。”。“有很多敢于批评埃尔多安的人被强行撤资的例子。”

总部位于雅典的智库希腊欧洲与外交政策基金会的非常驻研究员尼古拉斯·丹福思对此表示赞同。

丹福思说:“如果你想成为土耳其航空公司的发言人，你当然不能说埃尔多安的任何坏话。”

根据自发起竞选以来发表的几篇新闻报道，奥兹至少在两个场合见过埃尔多安，在2014和2018，并出席了事件埃尔多安政党的官员。奥兹说，对于他这种地位的土耳其裔美国人来说，参加这些活动是正常的。

当被问及奥兹是否对埃尔多安采取了公开立场时，亚尼克向美国广播公司新闻提供了奥兹在2022年1月的一次竞选活动中发表的评论，他说他在参议院“将是埃尔多安最严厉的批评者”。

“我成长过程中尊敬的国家——土耳其，我父亲离开的国家——是一个世俗国家，那里没有重要的伊斯兰统治元素，就这样，”他说。“这不是一个独裁政权。”

穆哈雷姆·因斯在西方被誉为有魅力的领导人，有可能让土耳其回归世俗之根，他在2018年的大选中以52%对30%的大幅优势败给了埃尔多安。因斯得到了反埃尔多安政党广泛联盟的支持，但也表达了一些有争议的观点，包括有意与叙利亚总统阿萨德重建关系。

“因斯很难说是民主、人权和宽容的典范，”库克说。

作为土耳其在西方最知名的人物之一，奥兹并不是第一个面临所谓“双重忠诚”指控的高调候选人，这一指控让人想起前几代人对天主教徒、犹太人和其他宗教和种族团体成员的攻击。

在2016年总统竞选期间，当时的候选人唐纳德·特朗普指责得克萨斯州共和党参议员特德·克鲁兹对他的出生地加拿大保持双重忠诚，尽管克鲁兹一直如此放弃他的加拿大国籍2014年。特朗普尚未对奥兹的安排表示任何类似的担忧。

Dr. Oz's vote in 2018 Turkish election renews criticism

As Dr. Mehmet Oz embarks on a bid for the U.S. Senate, the television star has largely shied away from discussing his ties to Turkey, where he maintains citizenship, and dismissed criticism from political opponents that he harbors any so-called "dual loyalties."

But a photograph of Oz casting a ballot in Turkey's 2018 presidential election is rankling some national security experts -- particularly afterrecently sayinghe has "never been politically involved in Turkey in any capacity."

"The decision to vote in a foreign country's election is problematic from a security clearance perspective," according to John V. Berry, a former government lawyer with expertise in federal security clearances.

After a rocky start to his campaign, Oz recently earned a coveted endorsement from former President Donald Trump, bolstering his chances of capturing the Republican nod. But political opponents have continued to target his connections to Turkey -- a strategy the Oz campaign and others have called xenophobic smears. If elected, Oz has said he would renounce his Turkish citizenship.

When asked about thephotograph, which appeared in June 2018 on the Facebook page of Turkey's consulate in Manhattan, Brittany Yanick, an Oz campaign spokesperson, confirmed its authenticity to ABC News and confirmed that Oz did vote in the 2018 election. According to Yanick, Oz voted for opposition candidate Muharrem Ince in his unsuccessful campaign against Turkish President Recep Tayyep Erdogan. She denied that Oz's vote amounted to "political involvement."

"Voting in an election is far different from being actively engaged in the political work of the Turkish government, which Dr. Oz has never been involved with," Yanick told ABC News. "There is no security issue whatsoever."

Elected officials are not subjected to the same level of scrutiny as civilians who seek security clearances for sensitive government work; once sworn-in, lawmakers are granted access to classified information, unless the executive branch denies them certain information.

But the background check process for civilians can also "provide a framework for analyzing whether someone is trustworthy or not," according to Kel McClanahan, the executive director of National Security Counselors, a nonprofit public interest law firm. And for McClanahan, voting in another country's election would set off a "giant, flashing red light."

Born and raised in Ohio, Oz has said that he maintains dual U.S.-Turkey citizenship to care for his mother in Turkey, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. He also served in the Turkish army for 60 days in the early 1980s -- reportedly to retain his Turkish citizenship -- and maintains real estate holdings in Turkey, plus has an endorsement deal the country's national airline, Turkish Airlines.

"Any single one of those would be enough to torpedo a [security] clearance," McClanahan said. "Taken together, I would not put good odds on that person getting a clearance anywhere."

Turkish voting records indicate that the 2018 presidential election was the first in which Oz participated. Prior to the 2014 election, Turks living abroad could only vote by returning home or by visiting polling stations set up on Turkey's borders.

Yanick, the campaign spokesperson, said Oz did not plan to vote in the 2018 election, but decided to cast a ballot while at the consulate discussing his "humanitarian work on behalf of Syrian refugees in Turkey."

"It was during an election season, so he voted," Yanick said.

Other security experts ABC News spoke with expressed less concern with Oz's 2018 vote. Steve Aftergood, a senior analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, said that because Oz has been transparent about his ties to Turkey, his dual citizenship alone is more of a political concern for him than a risk to national security.

"The fact that [Oz] has made no effort to conceal his dual citizenship counts in his favor," Aftergood said. "Voters will have an opportunity to decide whether or not it is of concern to them."

Security experts that ABC News consulted emphasized that the country in question matters when considering potential foreign influence risks. A person's ties to Turkey, a NATO member and strategic ally to the U.S., present far less of a threat than China or Russia.

But in recent years, Turkish President Erdogan has demonstrated increasingly authoritarian behavior, jailing journalists and summarily silencing opposition voices. Erdogan has also strained ties with the U.S. by purchasing Russian weapons systems.

Richard Grenell, the former Director of National Intelligence under President Trump, characterized Oz's understanding of Turkey an asset in the fight against authoritarianism.

"It is frankly un-American to suggest that first- and second-generation Americans are unworthy or suspect to work as a U.S. official," Grenell said. "They've seen fascism and totalitarianism and are actually more clear-eyed about what is at stake."

Background check investigators consider "the totality of circumstances" when investigating those seeking security clearances, said Sean Bigley, a national security lawyer and former Trump-appointee to the National Security Education Board. Bigley said Oz's portfolio of risk would likely include his existing financial ties to Turkey.

According to financial disclosures submitted in April, Oz owns several hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate property in Turkey, including a building he has leased out to the Turkish Ministry of Education for free. The building is being used as a student dormitory, according to his disclosure form, and "is subject to pending trust and estate litigation."

The disclosure form also shows Oz scored a lucrative endorsement contract with Turkish Airlines, Turkey's national flag-carrying airline. Experts say the air carrier has grown increasingly close to Erdogan since 2018, when henamed himself chairmanof the country's sovereign wealth fund, which holds a 49% stake.

In 2018, Oz appeared in a Super Bowl advertisement for Turkish Airlines, and in 2021, he appeared in a four-minute informational discussing the airline's COVID-19 safety protocols as a brand ambassador.

Any wealth Oz has accumulated from his interests in Turkey, including the airline deal, would reflect only a small amount of his full financial picture. In all, Oz's disclosure shows that he and his spouse together own between $104 and $422 million in various assets and holdings.

Even so, Bigley said, "if I were advising [Oz], I would suggest divesting from any assets or ... financial ties with any entity of the Turkish government."

Oz has faced criticism for not using his celebrity prominence as a platform for denouncing Erdogan's clampdowns on opposition and other democratic backsliding. Some suggest that Oz's continuing financial interests in Turkey create a disincentive for him to criticize its leadership, as doing so could put Oz at risk of having his Turkish assets seized.

"It is the nature of the Turkish system and authoritarian systems more generally that folks who do not want to be targeted by the state kowtow to leaders or keep their mouth shut," said Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "There are many examples of people who have dared to criticize Erdogan who have been forcibly divested."

Nicholas Danforth, a non-resident fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, an Athens-based think tank, agreed.

"If you wanted to have a lucrative career as a spokesman for Turkish Airlines, you certainly couldn't say anything negative about Erdogan," Danforth said.

According to several news reports published since launching his campaign, Oz has met with Erdogan on at least two occasions, in2014and2018, and attendedeventswith officials in Erdogan's party. Oz has said that attending these functions was normal for a Turkish-American of his stature.

Asked whether Oz had taken a public stance against Erdogan, Yanick provided ABC News with comments Oz made at a January 2022 campaign event in which he said he "would be the harshest critic of Erdogan" in the Senate.

"The country that I respected when I was growing up -- Turkey, the country my father left -- was a secular country where there was no significant Islamic rule elements, period," he said. "And it was not a dictatorship."

Hailed in the West as a charismatic leader with the potential to return Turkey to its secular roots, Muharrem Ince fell to Erdogan in the 2018 election by a substantial margin -- 52 percent to 30. Ince attracted support from a broad coalition of anti-Erdogan parties, but also expressed some controversial opinions -- including an interest in rebuilding ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Ince was hardly a paragon of democracy, human rights, and tolerance," said Cook.

As one of Turkey's most recognizable figures in the West, Oz is not the first high-profile candidate to face accusations of a so-called "dual loyalty," a claim reminiscent of attacks against Catholics, Jews and members of other religious and ethnic groups in previous generations.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump accused Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, of maintaining dual loyalties to Canada, his country of birth, even though Cruz hadrenounced his Canadian citizenshipin 2014. Trump has not expressed any similar concern for Oz's arrangement.