Daudt, other state lawmakers in Turkey as part of U.S. group

House Speaker Kurt Daudt and two other Minnesota state representatives are in Turkey this week, where international tension is flaring over the country's downing of a Russian warplane.

November 29, 2015 at 10:39PM
House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown
House Speaker Kurt Daudt, R-Crown (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

House Speaker Kurt Daudt and two other Minnesota state representatives are in Istanbul, Turkey this week on a trip sponsored by a nonprofit organization.

International tension in the region spiked on Tuesday after Turkey acknowledged that it shot down a Russian warplane along its border with Syria.

Daudt, R-Crown, is part of a small Minnesota delegation that also includes Rep. Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, and Rep. Paul Rosenthal, DFL-Edina. The trip was put together by the Niagara Foundation, a Chicago-based nonprofit that "strives to promote social cohesion by fostering civic conversations and sustained relationships between people of different cultures and faiths," according to its website.

Spokespeople for the House GOP and DFL said no taxpayer funds are being spent on the trip.

A spokesman for the Niagara Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for more details about the trip.

(This post has been updated.)

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about the writer

Patrick Condon

Night Team Leader

Patrick Condon is a Night Team Leader at the Star Tribune. He has worked at the Star Tribune since 2014 after more than a decade as a reporter for the Associated Press.

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