By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) – The political branch of a terrorist group that has attacked Türkiye many times, even as it enjoys weapons and training support from the US government, has hired a US-based PR firm to represent its interests in Washington, according to documents reviewed by Anadolu.
The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political branch of the SDF, a group primarily made up of members of the terrorist group YPG/PKK, signed a six-month lobbying contract with public relations firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.
The SDC, which is the political body that administers parts of northeast Syria controlled by the terrorist PKK/YPG, signed the contract with the company on Oct. 12, according to official documents filed under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
The contract includes "government relations services and strategic counsel on matters before the U.S. government." Specifically, Brownstein is being engaged to help the SDC attain seek, and to expand its engagement with the US administration as an interlocutor when dealing with issues related to North-East Syria."
This goal in particular could set off alarms in Türkiye, which has long fought efforts by terrorist groups such as the YPG/PKK to establish a “terrorist corridor” in northern Syria, an area not controlled by Damascus lying along Türkiye’s southern border. In recent years, Ankara has carried out several cross-border military operations to ensure the safety of Syrian locals and prevent any terrorist formation along its borders.
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The document adds that the PR firm’s efforts will “include educating policymakers in the US administration that the AANES project is the best solution to achieve the enduring defeat of terrorism and a lasting solution to the Syrian crisis," referring to the so-called Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, or the area administered by the SDC.
Services that are to be provided include arranging meetings and communicating with the House and Senate leadership, the House and Senate Foreign Relations, Appropriations, and Armed Services committees, senior administration officials in the State, Defense, and Commerce departments, and UN agencies.
Brownstein has also been contracted to lobby federal agencies to promote further investments in northeastern Syria.
Brownstein’s Nadeam Elshami, a former chief of staff for Nancy Pelosi, the long-serving former US House speaker, is listed as the individual who will lobby on behalf of the SDC.
The SDC agreed to pay Brownstein $50,000 per month from October through the end of March. The contract renews automatically for another six-month term unless the parties mutually agree to new terms.
The YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK, a banned terrorist organization in the US, EU, and Türkiye. It leads the SDF as Washington’s partner in counter-Daesh/ISIS efforts in Syria, despite strenuous objections by Türkiye, which says using one terror group to fight another makes no sense.
US support for the SDF, including weapons shipments and training, has long strained ties between Washington and Ankara. Successive US administrations have refrained from designating the YPG and SDF terrorist groups, despite Türkiye's repeated objections.
The YPG hired its first lobbyist in the US capital Washington, DC in April 2021. According to a report by the Foreign Lobby website, the YPG/PKK signed an agreement with the Jim Dornan Strategies lobbying firm.