Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016, has died aged 83.
Mr Gulen died in hospital on Sunday and had been receiving medical treatment for some time, the Gulen movement said on social media on Monday.
The cleric was accused by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of organising a failed coup that led to the deaths of at least 265 people, with about 2,200 injured. Mr Gulen, who had lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999, denied any involvement.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan later confirmed the death of Mr Gulen, describing him as the leader of a "dark organisation".
"Our nation's determination in the fight against terrorism will continue, and this news of his death will never lead us to complacency," Mr Fidan told reporters in Ankara.
Mr Erdogan has for years accused Mr Gulen's supporters of establishing a "parallel state" by infiltrating state institutions including the police and judiciary. Turkey has since 2016 arrested more than 80,000 people suspected of having links to the Gulen movement, proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, and has dismissed about 150,000 military personnel and public servants over alleged ties to the cleric.
Justice Minister Yimaz Tunc said Mr Gulen's death would not affect Turkey's fight against the movement, which the government calls the "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation", or FETO.
"The legal procedures carried out against the members of FETO will not be affected by the death in question, and the trials carried out against the leaders and members of the organisation and international judicial mechanisms will be followed with the same determination," he wrote on X.
Turkey had long sought Mr Gulen's extradition from the US. In 2021, his nephew, Selahaddin, was kidnapped from Kenya and brought back to Turkey by intelligence agents, his family said.
Turkish state news agency Anadolu, quoting security sources, said he was brought back to Turkey by agents from the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT).
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Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
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COMPANY PROFILE
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.”
If you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals. A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
The hotels
Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com. Good guidebooks include the Lonely Planet guides to Northern California and Washington, Oregon & the Pacific Northwest.