Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Mark Schiefelbein – Pool/Getty Images)

Hostility between Turkey and the Kurds, an ethnic minority group of more than 25 million stretched across the Middle East, has escalated following the unsolved July 17 murder of a Turkish diplomat in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, led by the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Turkey’s retaliatory airstrikes into Iraqi Kurdistan Thursday represent the latest clashes in a centuries-long conflict between Turkey and factions of the Kurdish people, a saga of reciprocal government repression and fierce opposition.

The struggle is raging in Washington as well. The Turkish nation and the Kurds are engaged in a heated lobbying and influence battle, each side employing prominent foreign agents to defend their interests as they seek American support — which could ultimately decide the fate of the region.

At the heart of the influence campaign is Greenberg Traurig, an international law firm that employs an influential team of lobbyists and political contributors. Traurig has inked deals with both the Kurds and Turkey, representing both sides even as tensions escalate between the rivals.

The Turkish government is paying the firm $1.5 million throughout 2019 for “proposing and pursuing a passage of legislation and other U.S. government action that promotes Turkey’s interests.” Foreign Agents Registration Act documents revealed that the group facilitated the Turkish government’s diplomatic response to American outrage over Turkey’s purchasing of a Russian missile system against NATO wishes.

Traurig has hired three subcontractors to assist in carrying out its advocacy for the Turkish government: LB International Solutions and Venable LLP, which is slated to each earn $270,000 for their work, and Capitol Counsel, which will earn $432,000 under the contract.

At the same time, the group was working for the Kurdistan Regional Government, also accepting $20,000 per month to “ensure that decision-makers have a full and accurate picture of why the KRG deserves special attention and the full support of the United States.” The March 2019 contract includes persuading government leaders, media figures and business leaders to act in line with Kurdish interests.

Greenberg Traurig did not respond to OpenSecrets’ request for comment.

The Kurdish Regional Government has hired more than a dozen lobbyists from other powerful firms in 2019 as they fight to defend Iraqi Kurdistan against Turkish airstrikes and occupation by the central Iraqi government.

BGR Group, a lobbying firm founded by former RNC chairman Haley Barbour and Reagan aide Ed Rogers, has represented the Kurdistan Regional Government since 2006. In 2019 alone, they registered five revolving-door lobbyists to represent Iraqi Kurdistan.

Among them is Walker Roberts, former assistant deputy staff director to the House International Relations Committee, and Lester Munson, former staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chief of staff to former Sen. Bob Corker (R- Tenn.).

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The Kurdistan Regional Government has also inked lucrative deals with Dentons, OPC Strategies, and Pass LLC for services ranging from consulting to white-paper editing.

They’re not the only Kurds to get into the lobbying game. Based to the west, the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan, a leftist-Marxist group of Kurds seeking regime change in Tehran, inked a deal with Canadian journalist Salah Bayaziddi. He is charged with convincing the American public and government that Komala should rule Iran.

The group is currently exiled in northern Iraq and has little support amongst Iranian Kurds, but the group still believes itself to be “the most viable and reliable ally the West and the USA can have in the region,” according to FARA filings.

They’re not the only Marxist dissident group trying to become the rulers of Iran: the Mojahedin E-Khalq has also been engaged in an aggressive lobbying campaign to shore up support among American officials.

The Turkish government is among the most powerful foreign influences in Washington, spending more than $6 million on lobbying in 2018. Aside from Greenberg Traurig, the Turkish government retains the services of Mercury Public Affairs and Ballard Partners, two powerful lobbying firms with ties to current or former administration officials of President Donald Trump.

In its early stages, the Trump administration had deep ties to the Turkish government, with former national security advisor Michael Flynn serving as an undisclosed lobbyist for the Turkish government during his time on the Trump campaign and administration. Bijan Kian, a business associate of Flynn, was convicted Tuesday for secretly lobbying for the Turkish government.

Trump has reportedly balked at imposing sanctions on Turkey for its importation of Russian missile systems, calling bipartisan demands to drop Turkey from the F-35 program “not a fair situation.” Turkey has also claimed that the administration is working on extraditing Fethullah Gulen, an exiled cleric accused of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt, back to Turkey for prosecution. The U.S. has so far refused to extradite Gulen.

The flurry of new lobbying can be tied to regional instability. With the fall of ISIS and rising calls for Kurdish autonomy over areas in Iraq, Syria and Turkey, chaos provides an opportunity for state actors to curry favor with an American administration that can help them realize their goals.

The Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world to lack their own nation. With a history in the region stretching back thousands of years, the Kurds’ demands for statehood grew to a fever pitch after World War 1, following the fall of the Ottoman empire.

The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres initially proposed an independent homeland for the Kurdish people, but fierce opposition from the Turks, long the regional enemies of the Kurds, led to the proposed country being split between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey in the final Treaty of Lausanne.

In a 2017 referendum, 93 percent of Iraqi Kurds supported independence for Iraqi Kurdistan. The central government in Baghdad declared the poll unconstitutional.





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