MESOPOTAMA NEWS  1. May : COMMUNIST PKK/PYD HIRES WASHINGTON TOP-LOBBYIST

Syria’s Kurdish YPG fighters hire their first lobbyist

by Julian Pecquet April 30, 2021 3:14 pm FOREIGN-LOBBYCOM

The Syrian Kurdish military forces have hired their first Washington lobbyist as they continue to battle the remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) in their autonomous region of northeast Syria.

Republican political operative Jim Dornan has registered his firm Jim Dornan Strategies as an agent of the “Kurdish Defense Forces/YPG SDF,” effective April 30. The YPG, or People’s Protection Units, are the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). They are considered a terrorist group by Turkey, contributing to the tensions between the US and its NATO ally.

Dornan is registered to lobby on “US/KDF (Kurdish Defense Forces) cooperation regarding ISIS.” The registration is effective today, April 30.

Dornan is a longtime Republican campaign operative and former congressional staffer who notably served as chief of staff to Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) when Burr served in the House of Representatives. Dornan declined to discuss his lobbying work for the YPG.

The registration comes as Kurdish military commanders have been pressing the Joe Biden administration to stay engaged in the fight. President Donald Trump declared that the Islamic State had been defeated in Iraq and Syria back in March 2019, but the Kurds have been warning of its return.

“ISIS is not finished yet, and recently it has intensified its attacks,” Gen. Mazlum Abdi Kobani, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said in an interview with Voice of America – Kurdish in February. “I can say that the threat is continuing, the terror organization is trying to revive itself. They come to our region from areas under the control of the Syrian regime and from Iraq. With our allies in the coalition under US leadership, our operations against ISIS sleeping cells are moving forward successfully.”

Kobani went on to advocate for the US to formally recognize the Kurdish-controlled parts of Syria, known as Rojava, as an autonomous region.

“We welcome the new Biden administration,” he said. “We are hopeful that the mistakes of the previous administration will be corrected. We hope that the new administration will play an important role in solving the conflict in Syria. Within the context of Syria, a status must be accorded to this region that we liberated from ISIS in collaboration with the [US-led] Coalition. The rights of Kurdish people, the rights of other people in our region must be protected by legal means, and the problem in Syria must be solved in a comprehensive way. We hope that Washington will pursue an effective policy on this issue.”

The Syrian Kurds’ political wing has also been ramping up its lobbying presence. Last summer the Washington office of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) hired longtime Kurdish lobbyist Ayal Frank and his firm AF International for $6,000 per month for help “advising client on communications strategies, preparing draft communications with government and media, and by arranging for meetings and activities with government and media.”

Julian Pecquet is the founder and editor of Foreign Lobby Report, the comprehensive news site tracking foreign influence operations in Washington. Prior to launching the site on June 1, 2020, Julian was a reporter and editor for Middle East news site Al-Monitor for six years. There he initiated lobbying coverage that won national awards from the Online News Association and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW). Before that he was a Global Affairs reporter for The Hill and a newspaper reporter in Florida for many years. Contact him at jpecquet@foreignlobby.com or on Twitter @JulianPecquet.