The contract with Turkey is the firm’s highest profile foreign client and could be its most controversial amid unrest in the nation under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. | AP Photo/Steve Cannon Amid complicated relations with U.S., Turkey hires longtime Trump lobbyist Brian Ballard

MIAMI — President Donald Trump’s longtime Florida lobbyist, Brian Ballard, has expanded his practice globally and just signed a $1.5 million contract with the government of Turkey, which will be represented by the firm’s new big hire, former Florida Congressman Robert Wexler.

Ballard Partners' Turkey contract, inked Friday, comes on the heels of two other international clients signed by the firm: A March 6 $900,000 contract with the Dominican Republic and an April 1 $240,000 contract with the Socialist Party of Albania, the ruling party in the Balkan nation.


"I'm excited about the firm's growing international practice and look forward to working with this important US and NATO ally,” Ballard, who still speaks to Trump on occasion after representing the Trump Organization for years in Tallahassee, said in a brief written statement.

The contract with Turkey is the firm’s highest profile foreign client and could be its most controversial amid unrest in the nation under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On Monday, the Associated Press reported that Turkey protested to the U.S. ambassador in Ankara that U.S. officials took "aggressive and unprofessional actions" against Turkish bodyguards in Washington last week when they beat protesters demonstrating against Erdogan. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday denounced the violent clash and told “Fox News Sunday” that State Department had called in the ambassador of Turkey to discuss the incident and say “that this is simply unacceptable.”

Meantime, amid a special counsel’s examining of alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, Trump’s former national security adviser, Mike Flynn, has come under increasing scrutiny for his Turkish lobbying, which was also linked to a Russian oil deal.

Wexler, a Democrat who served in Congress from 1997 until 2010 and helped found the Turkey Caucus in the U.S. House nearly 20 years ago, was circumspect in addressing the melee.

“It’s not debatable that peaceful protest in the United States of America is sacrosanct,” Wexler said.

Wexler is new to lobbying and joined Ballard Partners in March. He’s still serving as president of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, a Washington-based think tank devoted to Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Wexler said he saw his role representing Turkey as one in which he tries to advance the interests of both nations, which have been longtime allies.

“Any issue that is critical to American security interests or geopolitical interests — whether the destruction of ISIS or al Qaeda, or advancing Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives or energy security, or stopping the flow of refugees through Europe or advancing American military strategy in the region — Turkey is a central player,” Wexler said. Though our interests vary at times, I’ve devoted myself to try to bridge those differences.”

Ballard Partners' trifecta of foreign clients follows its decision to expand in Washington this year after the election of Trump.