By Bosphorus News Defense Desk
Türkiye's National Defense Ministry has hired Ballard Partners for government relations and strategic advice in Washington under a one-year contract carrying a $2.4 million base fee plus expenses, US Justice Department filings show.
The agreement took effect on August 15 and runs through August 14, 2027. Ballard will receive $200,000 a month, with travel, registration and other representation costs billed separately. Defense Minister Yaşar Güler signed for the ministry and Ballard Partners President Brian Ballard signed for the firm. The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing was submitted on August 21.
Neither the contract nor the accompanying FARA disclosure mentions the F-35 fighter program or Türkiye's Russian-built S-400 air-defense system.
That became relevant after the agreement was widely presented as an effort to secure Türkiye's return to the F-35 program. The ministry responded on August 27 that the contract covers the wider Türkiye-US defense relationship and is not limited to a single project or platform.
Contract Covers Washington Lobbying, Not Media Work
Ballard's filing says it will provide "government relations and strategic advisory services" on matters between Türkiye and the United States. Its anticipated political activity is described as lobbying and advocacy focused on bilateral defense and security issues.
The contract authorizes the firm to advise the ministry, advocate before the US federal government on issues Ankara considers necessary and keep the ministry informed about relevant legislation and policy.
One provision draws a clear line around the work. Strategic communications services available through Ballard Media Group are expressly excluded from the agreement. The ministry has hired the firm for government relations and advocacy, not for a media campaign.
The National Defense Ministry said the arrangement was intended to strengthen institutional dialogue with Washington and ensure that Türkiye's positions and priorities reached the relevant US counterparts accurately.
It also challenged the narrower interpretation that followed the first reports on the deal, saying that associating the work only with a particular defense program did not reflect the contract's scope.
The ministry did not say the F-35 could not form part of Ballard's work. The filed mandate simply gives the firm a much wider brief.
Four Names Are Registered for the Ministry
FARA records filed on August 21 list Brian Ballard, Robert Wexler, Thomas Boodry and Sylvester Lukis as working for the National Defense Ministry account. Their individual filings describe government relations work involving US government officials and non-governmental audiences.
Wexler brings a long record in Türkiye-related congressional affairs. The former Democratic congressman chaired the House Subcommittee on Europe, served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-founded the Caucus on US-Turkish Relations. Ballard Partners currently lists him as a special adviser to its Istanbul office.
Boodry comes from the Republican national-security side of Washington. Before joining Ballard, he served as Special Assistant to President Donald Trump and Senior Director for Legislative Affairs at the National Security Council, following congressional roles that covered defense, intelligence and foreign policy.
The main FARA filing identifies Savunma ve Güvenlik Genel Müdürü İlkay Altındağ as the Turkish official with whom Ballard engages. He is not the contract signatory; Güler's signature appears on the agreement itself.
The F-35 Negotiation Is Still Running Into US Law
The F-35 entered coverage of the Ballard contract because Ankara and Washington are already negotiating over Türkiye's possible return to the program.
Trump said at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7 that he intended to remove US sanctions imposed over Türkiye's S-400 purchase and would make a decision on a potential F-35 sale. Reuters noted at the time that legal and congressional obstacles remained unresolved.
Those obstacles are separate.
Section 1245 of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act bars the transfer of F-35 aircraft to Türkiye unless the statutory conditions concerning the S-400 are met. The Congressional Research Service says Türkiye must no longer possess the system or associated items, provide credible assurances that it will not reacquire them and satisfy other conditions before the prohibition can be waived. Six Turkish-owned F-35s remain stored in the United States.
The State Department told Congress in a July 22 response that Türkiye had "not yet met" the legal conditions for an F-35 transfer. A Congressional Research Service update published this month records the same position.
CAATSA sanctions are a second file. Trump said in July that he would lift them, but the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control still lists Türkiye's Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) under the CAATSA-Russia program.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has likewise treated sanctions relief and F-35 access as related but distinct negotiations with Washington.
The result is a Washington defense agenda broader than a single aircraft sale, which is also the description contained in Ballard's filing and the ministry's response.
Ballard Has Represented Turkish Clients Before
Ballard's relationship with Türkiye predates the new ministry contract.
FARA records show the firm signed a separate agreement with the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Embassy in May 2017 for advocacy on US-Türkiye relations. That contract paid Ballard $125,000 a month, or $1.5 million over its first year, plus expenses.
Halkbank became a separate Ballard foreign principal that August. FARA records distinguish the state lender's account from the earlier Turkish government agreement, and later filings record Ballard contacts in Washington separately under "US-Turkey Relations" and "Halkbank."
The 2026 agreement puts the National Defense Ministry itself on Ballard's foreign-principal list and defines the work explicitly around US-Türkiye defense and security.
The public documents leave room for Ballard to work on the F-35 among other issues. They do not describe the $200,000-a-month contract as an F-35 campaign.
Sources: US Department of Justice Foreign Agents Registration Act filings, Türkiye's National Defense Ministry, US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control, Congressional Research Service, Reuters, Ballard Partners, Bosphorus News review and reporting.