U.S. court filings show Turkey on Aug. 8 hired Ballard Partners on a one-year,
$2.4m contract to provide government-relations, strategic advice and lobbying;
the team includes Brian Ballard and former Trump aide Thomas Budri. Ballard
Partners previously held a $1.5m 2017 contract tied to Kharg Bank’s efforts to
avoid sanctions; the DOJ dropped charges against the bank earlier this year. The
new agreement lists Turkey’s defense ministry as the primary client. Ankara is
seeking to re-enter the F-35 program and to take delivery of six F-35s held in
the U.S.; Turkey was expelled from the program in 2019 after buying Russia’s
S-400 air-defence system. Reports say Turkey is considering selling its S-400s
to a third country, possibly the UAE, as leverage to persuade Washington to lift
sanctions.
