Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RIVISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi<br />
By U~urAhne!<br />
Turkish Daily News<br />
W ASHINGTON-<br />
Evi<strong>de</strong>ntly satisfied<br />
- or less cross - with their perfonnance<br />
in selling Turkey's case to<br />
the American public, media and<br />
pliticiansin contraSt'with the record<br />
of the European count<strong>et</strong>parts, Turkey<br />
has exten<strong>de</strong>d the contracts of two<br />
leading Washington lobby finns.<br />
But although g<strong>et</strong>ting another year's<br />
contract from the Turkish government,<br />
Fleishman and Hillard (F&H)<br />
and Capitoline had to agree to serious<br />
cuts in their fees.<br />
It was not clear, however, if the<br />
smaller purse was a result of the lessthan-solid<br />
support Turkey received<br />
from Washin~ton to its recent crossbor<strong>de</strong>r<br />
operatIOnagainst the separatist<br />
Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.<br />
F&H's contract en<strong>de</strong>d on March<br />
31, and Capitoline's en<strong>de</strong>d on April<br />
30. F&H's contract was initially<br />
exten<strong>de</strong>d by only.2 months due to the<br />
fact thatTurkish Promotion Fund, the<br />
multi-agency government board<br />
which approves lobby accounts, did<br />
not have a me<strong>et</strong>ing scheduled when<br />
F&H's contract expired.<br />
"It's only due to such a mismatch<br />
in timing that the F&H account initially<br />
had to be exten<strong>de</strong>d on a temporary<br />
basis," a Turkish officialtold the<br />
Turkish Oaily News.<br />
High-level representatives of both<br />
fions are currently in Ankara, holding<br />
the kind of inter-lobby conference<br />
that' all lobby firms working for<br />
Turkey in the United States and<br />
Europe held three months ago in<br />
London to coordinate their activities<br />
on a global scale.<br />
The representatives m<strong>et</strong> with<br />
Turkish Foreign Ministry officials on<br />
Monday and some of them were also<br />
to fly to Turkish Republicof Northern<br />
Cyprus (TRNC) to see the island<br />
republic for the first time. Their<br />
TRNC visit fuels existing rumors that<br />
a mo<strong>de</strong>st breakthrough could take<br />
place in the Cyprus issue within the<br />
next year.<br />
Turkish officials in Washington<br />
assured TON thatthey were "very<br />
salisfied~:.with ..the.services .provi<strong>de</strong>d<br />
both by,f&}{.Il\Vbich.is. responsible<br />
fdr ,"media refations;"rand'Capîtoline,<br />
which s~ecializes in "govermnent<br />
relations. '<br />
Y<strong>et</strong>, an informed source told the<br />
TDN that, although their contracts<br />
were renewed, both companies had to<br />
accept a pay cut. F&H was paid<br />
$525,000 every three months last<br />
year. Capitoline, on the other hand,<br />
received $487,500 during the last six<br />
months of service.<br />
An F&H source confinned that the<br />
finn had taken a pay cut. The source<br />
said that F&H would be paid about<br />
$430,000 pcr quarter in the new contract<br />
period, which represents a cut of<br />
18 percent. Capitoline reportedly<br />
also accepted a similar reduction in<br />
paycheck but at this writing senior<br />
company officials could not be<br />
reached for confinnation.<br />
TON also learned that both companies<br />
will be subjected to a quarterly<br />
"perfonnance review."<br />
If they fail to pass the review, their<br />
contracts might be reevaluated before<br />
the annual contracts expire.<br />
The F&H source could not confinn<br />
the reported "performance revit;w"<br />
clause in the new contract.<br />
Another reported modification in<br />
these two firms' contracts was the<br />
authoritx given to F&H to do some<br />
limited 'government relations" work<br />
on Capitol Hill that was previously<br />
carried out mainly, if not exclusively,<br />
by the Capitoline team. An F&H<br />
source confirmed the mentioned<br />
change in their contract.<br />
Other sources have told TON during<br />
the last year that such overlapping<br />
of responsibilities b<strong>et</strong>ween the two<br />
highly comp<strong>et</strong>itive PR companies<br />
caused minor strains in their relationship.<br />
With this recent rearrangement of<br />
their job <strong>de</strong>scriptions, it is expected<br />
that Similar misun<strong>de</strong>rstandings will be<br />
avoi<strong>de</strong>d and the efficiency of the<br />
overalloperation will increase.<br />
The TON also learned that the<br />
Greek Cypriots have hired Ed<br />
Oerwinski to represent their cause in<br />
Washington in addition to the<br />
Manatos & Manatos company.<br />
Oerwinski is a well-known name III<br />
the capital.<br />
He served in the U.S. House of<br />
Representatives for 22 years as a<br />
Republican Congressman from<br />
ChIcago.<br />
After 'Iosin~ his' seat-doe -to redistricting,<br />
Oerwlllski was broughti:into<br />
the Bush administration to work 'first<br />
briefly at the Department of V<strong>et</strong>erans<br />
AffalfS, and then at the State<br />
Oepartment.<br />
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