Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has reportedly hired top lobbying company Burson-Marsteller to improve his image abroad.
The contract with the company began on Nov. 3, just two days after Davutoğlu’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) won an unexpected landslide victory in a repeat parliamentary election on Nov. 1, EUobserver website reported on Friday.
“The company is providing communication support to highlight the prime minister’s leading role in international efforts to address the refugee crisis and his commitment to open dialogue and consensus, which is crucial to ensuring the stability and future prosperity of Turkey,” Karen Massin, the CEO of the company’s Brussels office, said.
The client, as listed in Burson-Marsteller’s entry in the European Commission transparency register, is the “Office of Prime Minister of Turkey,” according to the report.
The report said the work was worth less than 9,999 euros but cautioned that the low figure might be due to the fact that the contract is new. Its activities so far include setting up background briefings with journalists and the prime minister’s press team, with a view to lining up interviews in Ankara, it also said.