Free overseas trips for several New Mexico legislators in recent months, funded by a nonprofit group, don't violate the state Gift Act or other laws, according to the state attorney general and other officials.

There also apparently is no requirement that the lawmakers or other officials report the trips to the Republic of Turkey, sponsored by Raindrop Turkish House, an affiliate of a Houston-based organization called the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians.

Democrats and Republicans alike have taken advantage of the offer, although it's not clear how many lawmakers have taken the trips. And, because there is no reporting requirement, that number might never be known.

Each trip includes about 10 days of lodging and food and, in at least some cases, airfare from Albuquerque to Istanbul. State Sen. Jerry Oritz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, said the Turquoise Council paid for his plane and other expenses, but he had to pay for his wife, who accompanied him.

Legislative Council Services director Raul Burciaga said there doesn't seem to be any conflict with the state Gift Act, passed in 2007, because the Turquoise Council does not fit the definition of "restricted donor" in the law.

His interpretation is backed up by state Attorney General Gary King. A spokesman for King said Thursday that some legislators informally asked the AG if the trip presented any legal problems and that King's staff found no conflict with the Gift Act.

Restricted donors include lobbyists — who cannot legally give gifts to lawmakers valued at more than $250 — and those seeking state contracts. The Turkish group hasn't sought or opposed any legislation in New Mexico. However, in the past two sessions the House has passed memorials encouraging more cultural and economic exchanges with the Republic of Turkey.

The Turquoise Council's website describes the group as "a leading independent and an umbrella organization committed to advancing the interaction among American and Turkish, Turkic and Eurasian people to promote and encourage continuing good relationship and understanding through its affiliate organizations regardless of their ethnic origin, religion and other preferences."

Like other such groups that have offered trips to Turkey for government officials, the Turquoise group is affiliated with the Gulen movement, which is inspired by the religious teachings of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish-born Muslim theologian who now lives in Pennsylvania. He is known for a moderate brand of Islam that stresses education and tolerance for other religions and cultures.

New Mexico lawmakers who have gone to Turkey as part of the Turquoise Council program said much of their time was spent visiting historical sites and meeting with Turkish business leaders. Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, who traveled to Turkey last year with several other legislators, said this week that his hosts were intent on showing that Turkey, unlike other countries in that region, isn't a hotbed of anti-Americanism.

New Mexico is just one state in which legislators and other officials have been treated to overseas trips by Gulen-affiliated Turks. One reason for the push is because of Turkey's effort to join the European Union, Ortiz y Pino and other lawmakers have said.

The state ethics commission director in Hawaii in April sent a memo to legislators in that state asking them to check with the commission before booking flights to Turkey, the online Honolulu Civic Beat reported. "With respect to the Pacifica Institute's invitation, the State Ethics Commission does not have sufficient understanding of Pacifica Institute, the purpose of the trip, or the state 'benefit' associated with the trip ... ." commission director Les Kondo said in the memo.

Interviewed Thursday, Kondo told The New Mexican that none of the legislators there ever got back to him about the journeys to Turkey.

"We have a gift law that's probably similar to yours," Kondo said. But he said his concern had to do with another state law in Hawaii that makes it illegal for state officials to get "special perks" from anyone just because they are state officials.

Apparently there is no similar law in New Mexico.

In May last year, according to an online publication called The Kansas Watchdog, the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission ruled that its state legislators couldn't use their campaign accounts to pay a $1,300 portion for a trip to Turkey organized by the Turquoise Council. "The Commission could not find a connection between the trip, which was largely for sightseeing, and a legislator's duties as an elected official," The Watchdog said.

Colorado's Independent Ethics Commission, according to The Denver Post, in 2009 ruled that there was no problem with a legislator and her husband taking an 11-day trip to Turkey partially paid for by a nonprofit group called the Multicultural Mosaic Foundation. Rep. Cherylin Peniston, one of several lawmakers invited, argued that the purpose of the trip was "contributing to the establishment and furtherance of cross-cultural tolerance" and "working toward attaining peace and cooperation among the world civilizations." The ethics commission agreed, writing "These are legitimate goals in today's world. The IEC agrees that the state would benefit from the requester's participation in this trip."

The Washington Post reported earlier this year that in 2010 a group called The American Turkish Friendship Association took a dozen Virginia legislators, "most accompanied by spouses," to Turkey. According to state records in Virginia, the association spent $36,650 on the trips, making it the top gift-giver to legislators last year, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics.

In New Mexico, Burciaga said that because no state money has been spent on the trips the state has no list of lawmakers who have gone to Turkey on the Turquoise Council's dime.

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.