The already troubled relationship between the ruling parties in Iraq’s Kurdistan region deteriorated further this week after an apparent Turkish drone strike near Sulaymaniyah airport on April 7, which struck near a convoy carrying Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi and US military officials.
It is another example of the enormous influence the actions of external forces have on the politics of the Kurdistan region and how local parties try to leverage those events for their own purposes.
In the hours after the attack, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesman Jotiyar Adil released an incendiary statement against the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which governs Sulaymaniyah, calling it an “authoritarian party” whose behaviour had encouraged the Turkish attack.
Turkey shut down its airspace to flights to and from Sulaymaniyah in the days before the attack and accused the PUK of being under the control of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought a decades-long conflict against Ankara for Kurdish rights and autonomy in south-east Turkey.
While nominally a government spokesperson, Mr Adil is a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the PUK’s main domestic rival. At the moment, they sit in government together, but differences over internal revenue sharing, electoral reforms and security affairs have undermined their working relationship over the past year and a half.
Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament Rewaz Fayaq, who is a member of the PUK, denounced Mr Adil’s statement. There was “no justification for the unlawful attack … just as there was none for any earlier attacks on Erbil airport,” she said, referring to repeated missile and drone strikes on the Kurdistan region’s capital over the past two years by Iran.
“The Kurdistan region's cities must be treated equally by the government. Shame on those who carried out the attack and anyone who justifies it,” Ms Fayaq said.
Zmkan Ali Saleem, a professor of politics at the University of Sulaymaniyah, told The National that the foreign ties of the Kurdish parties are mainly a function of the geopolitical ambitions and concerns of external actors.
“The Kurdish parties use external relationships for domestic political reasons, but that comes second,” Dr Saleem said. “The relationship is quite asymmetric.”
That has not stopped the KDP and the PUK from using their ties with foreign countries and non-state actors as fodder for their own rivalry, as highlighted by the anger over Mr Adil’s comments.
The KDP has a close economic, political and security relationship with Turkey, which maintains a network of military bases in the north-western parts of the Kurdistan region and Nineveh governorate. Ankara justifies this breach of Iraqi sovereignty as necessary to fight the PKK.
The KDP itself has clashed violently with the PKK several times in recent years.
Additionally, most of the Kurdistan region’s oil fields are in KDP-controlled areas with crude exported to the Turkish port of Ceyhan by pipeline. Before a recent arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce shut down operations, almost 370,000 bpd was sent via Turkey from Kurdish fields.
The PUK, in contrast, controls the Kurdistan region’s gas fields. KDP officials like KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani want to export this gas through Turkey as well.
PUK leader Bafel Talabani, the party’s relatively new leader, opposes those plans, arguing that Sulaymaniyah has not been getting a fair share of oil revenue, and that the PUK prefers a closer relationship with Baghdad.
In general, the PUK has strong ties with Iran and the parties that make up the ruling Co-ordination Framework parliamentary coalition in Baghdad. Militias associated with some of these parties have repeatedly attacked a Turkish base in Nineveh governorate.
Mr Talabani has also recently made a point of drawing a contrast with the KDP by emphasising his party’s links with Syrian Kurdish groups, which Turkey views as proxies of the PKK.
In a statement after the Sulaymaniyah airport attack, Mr Abdi said that Ankara was dissatisfied with “the recently strengthened brotherly relations” between the SDF and the PUK.
As the KDP and the PUK jockey for position in their internal rivalry and external forces use the Kurdistan region to advance their geopolitical interests, ordinary people are caught in the middle.
According to a report by Community Peacemaker Teams, cross-border attacks by the Turkish military killed between 98 and 123 civilians between August 1, 2015 and December 31, 2021 in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Airwars has identified at least 15 civilians killed in Iranian cross-border strikes.
On July 20 last year, Turkish shelling killed eight tourists at a resort near Parakhe village in Duhok governorate. More than 20 others were wounded, including two of Yousif Saadi’s relatives.
Although his family has not left the area, Mr Saadi told The National that cross-border attacks have disrupted the local economy by preventing people from farming and grazing sheep.
“Many people from the villages are moving to the cities,” he said.
Other states also have significant interests in the Kurdistan region, including the US, the UK and European countries, who offer political legitimacy and security assistance to the KDP and the PUK, and Russia, whose state-owned energy companies have large investments in Kurdish oil and gas.
Nevertheless, foreign influences are controversial, even if they provide some benefits.
“As a citizen, I see all of it as negative,” Mr Saleem said. “I would like to see an institutionalised relationship where it’s not about these parties, their concerns, their domestic politics.
“Their survival should be routed through established institutions that work and operate on behalf of the interest of the Kurds,” he said.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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%3Cp%3EFrom%20September%2018-25%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%0D.%20The%20two%20finalists%20advance%20to%20the%20main%20event%20in%20South%20Africa%20in%20February%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EGroup%20A%3A%20United%20States%2C%20Ireland%2C%20Scotland%2C%20Bangladesh%0D%3Cbr%3EGroup%20B%3A%20UAE%2C%20Thailand%2C%20Zimbabwe%2C%20Papua%20New%20Guinea%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EUAE%20group%20fixtures%3A%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2018%2C%203pm%2C%20Zayed%20Cricket%20Stadium%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Thailand%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2019%2C%203pm%2C%20Tolerance%20Oval%20-%20PNG%20v%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2021%2C%207pm%2C%20Tolerance%20Oval%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Zimbabwe%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EUAE%20squad%3A%20Chaya%20Mughal%20(captain)%2C%20Esha%20Oza%2C%20Kavisha%20Kumari%2C%20Rinitha%20Rajith%2C%20Rithika%20Rajith%2C%20Khushi%20Sharma%2C%20Theertha%20Satish%2C%20Lavanya%20Keny%2C%20Priyanjali%20Jain%2C%20Suraksha%20Kotte%2C%20Natasha%20Cherriath%2C%20Indhuja%20Nandakumar%2C%20Vaishnave%20Mahesh%2C%20Siya%20Gokhale%2C%20Samaira%20Dharnidharka%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
The specs
BMW M8 Competition Coupe
Engine 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8
Power 625hp at 6,000rpm
Torque 750Nm from 1,800-5,800rpm
Gearbox Eight-speed paddleshift auto
Acceleration 0-100kph in 3.2 sec
Top speed 305kph
Fuel economy, combined 10.6L / 100km
Price from Dh700,000 (estimate)
On sale Jan/Feb 2020
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
