The looming White House meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will include a large number of thorny, difficult issues — even by President Trump’s standards — such as Syria, the future of NATO, Ankara’s growing closeness with Russia and the state of democracy in Turkey.

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The talks Wednesday will proceed despite a bipartisan move in Congress to rescind the invitation to the Turkish leader. Lawmakers have threatened harsh sanctions over the NATO ally’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system and a Turkish military incursion into neighboring Syria targeting U.S.-allied Kurdish forces.

Lawmakers and human rights organizations also have been sounding the alarm on what they say are human rights violations against Kurdish forces in Syria. These fighters were critical to the success of the Pentagon’s fight against the Islamic State group.

“It is absolutely critical that the White House send a message that these actions and this unlawful behavior on the part of Turkish forces is stopped, and that folks are held accountable for the violations that they’ve caused,” said Margaret Huang, U.S. executive director at Amnesty International.

In the first week of the offensive, at least 218 civilians were killed in northeastern Syria, 18 of whom were children, according to the Kurdish-led administration’s health authority in the region.

“This offensive into northeast Syria has wreaked havoc on the lives of Syrian civilians who have to again leave their homes, even their temporary homes, and are now living in constant fear of indiscriminate bombing abductions and summary killings,” she said.

It’s unlikely Mr. Trump will directly confront Mr. Erdogan on those issues, said Stephen McInerney, an executive director at the Project on Middle East Democracy.

“President Trump is very likely to give President Erdogan a strong public embrace on Wednesday,” Mr. McInerney predicted on a call with reporters Monday.

“But it’s important that President Erdogan and the Turkish government come away from this visit realizing that that embrace and that willingness to ignore authoritarian repression and human rights abuses inside Turkey does not extend beyond the White House and that many here in Washington have deep concerns with those issues,” he said.

The two leaders are expected to hold a joint press conference at the White House after their private.

(Excerpt from The Washington Times. Article by Lauren Meier.)