Friday, November 12 2021 20:48

ArmInfo. A recent report titled "Turkey's Lobby in the United States" exposing Turkey's undue and surreptitious attempts to influence U.S. policy through Congress, the mainstream media and think tanks was released by The Center for International  Policy (CIP), reported the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly). 

The 30-page report by the CIP, an independent, non-profit center  dedicated to realizing a "peaceful, just and sustainable world as the  central pursuit of U.S. foreign policy," analyzed Foreign Agents  Registration Act (FARA) documents filed by organizations registered  to work on behalf of Turkish clients in 2020, including Greenberg  Traurig LLP, Mercury Public Affairs LLC, Venable LLP, Capitol Counsel  LLC, and others. Key findings in the report include:ъ 11  organizations were registered under FARA to work on Turkey's behalf  in 2020 (at a cost of over $5 million); ъ 

Those organizations reported making 2,319 contacts on behalf of their  Turkish clients; ъ 568 campaign contributions, totaling $526,177,  were made by those firms and their registered foreign agents; ъ 17  elected officials received nearly $37,000 in contributions from firms  that had contacted their offices on behalf of Turkish clients; ъ 1  Senator received a campaign contribution from a firm that had  contacted their office on Turkey's behalf that same day. The report  emphasizes that the common denominator is lobbying, noting that  "Turkey has been the object of considerable lobbying, public  relations, and related attempts at influence by Turkey's foreign  agents in the U.S." The report further highlights that in addition to  Senate and House leaders, key Members of the Senate and House Foreign  Relations Committees, Senate and House Armed Services Committees,  along with leaders of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey were also  contacted. In addition to thousands of "political contacts," the  media was contacted 377 times, "specifically The New York Times (83),  Bloomberg (52), The Washington Post (37), CNN (35), and The Wall  Street Journal (34)," and included "submitting pitches for stories,  op-eds, or letters to the editor." Think tanks, along with businesses  and business networks, were also courted with 145 contacts between  them. The report also highlighted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip  Erdogan's aggressive foreign policy decisions, including recent  military interventions and support for proxy terrorists in Syria,  Libya, Iraq, and Nagorno- Karabakh, as well as his authoritarian rule  in Turkey, have "made U.S.-Turkey relations more strained than ever  before" with Greenberg Traurig, Mercury Public Affairs, Venable, and  Capitol Counsel ending their contracts after the Armenian American  community brought to light Turkey's full-scale support of the war  that Azerbaijan launched last Fall against the Armenian people,  including the recruitment and use of jihadist mercenaries. In its  conclusion, the report made clear that "this analysis is just one  part of Turkey's influence in America" and does not, for example,  "address the influence of the Turkish Heritage Organization, a  non-profit convener that regularly hosts events providing a platform  for Turkish officials in the U.S. Nor does it discuss illicit  influence operations, such as the work Michael Flynn did on Turkey's  behalf." "We commend the Center for International Policy for this  timely and thorough report," stated Assembly Congressional Relations  Director Mariam Khaloyan. "Anti-democratic regimes freely operating  in Washington and undermining U.S. policy to the detriment of the  American people must end. Passage of the ENABLERS Act by Congress  would be a good first step, along with the OCCRP's continued work  unveiling the corruption in Azerbaijan as well as the influence  exerted by multinational corporations with vested interests in Turkey  and Azerbaijan." 

Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest  Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public  understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a  non- partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization