Turkish-American Influence Group Briefs Turkish Officials on Outreach to US Politicians

The Turk­ish Amer­i­can Nation­al Steer­ing Com­mit­tee (TASC) is report­ing that its lead­ers have been brief­ing Turk­ish min­is­ters and an MP on their activ­i­ties, includ­ing those “which reach out to the US  polit­i­cal lead­ers, media, and pub­lic.” Accord­ing to the TASC tweet:

July 25, 2021, TASC CoChair Dr Halil Mut­lu had a very pro­duc­tive meet­ing with Turk­ish For­eign Min­is­ter Mev­lut Cavu­soglu and Deputy For­eign Min­is­ter Yavuz Selim Kiran in Ankara. Dur­ing the meet­ing, Dr Mut­lu sum­ma­rized TASC projects which reach out to the US  polit­i­cal lead­ers, media, and public.

Read the rest here.

Anoth­er recent TASC tweet reports that TASC briefed Mehmet Meh­di Eker, an AKP politi­cian and Pres­i­dent of the Turkey-USA Inter-Par­lia­men­tary Friend­ship Group, on “the advo­ca­cy activ­i­ties of the Turk­ish Amer­i­can com­mu­ni­ty under TASC leadership.”

The Turk­ish Amer­i­can Nation­al Steer­ing Com­mit­tee (TASC) is strong­ly tied to Turk­ish Pres­i­dent Erdoğan:

• TASC co-chair Halil Mut­lu is Erdoğan’s cousin.

• TASC co-chair Gunay Evinch is a prin­ci­pal of Saltz­man & Evinch, a law firm retained by Turkey and reg­is­tered as a for­eign agent of Turkey in 2020.

• TASC’s for­mer trea­sur­er, Murat Guzel, detailed his US polit­i­cal activ­i­ties in e‑mails to Erdoğan fam­i­ly members.

Oth­er GIOR report­ing on TASC has included:

• In July 2021, we report­ed that New York City May­oral Can­di­date Eric Adams had received dona­tions from TASC leaders.

• In June 2021, we report­ed that TASC’s new Vice-Chair­man of the Board is also the pres­i­dent of the USA youth wing of MÜSİAD, a Turk­ish Islamist businessman’s group.

• In May 2021, we report­ed that TASC co-orga­nized a Ramadan iftar (fast-break­ing) with the Mayor’s Office of Pater­son, NJ, also attend­ed by NJ Con­gress­man Bill Pascrell.