A woman walks among destroyed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. Getty Images
A woman mourns a relative during the burial of one of the earthquake victims in Antakya, southeastern Turkey. AP Photo
A family photo is seen amid the rubble in Hatay. Getty Images
Syrian refugees in Turkey return to their home country following the deadly earthquake. AFP
Members of NGOs Deathcare Embalming Team and Turkish Kurt-Ar inspect the bucket of an excavator as they search for bodies in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AP Photo
Dust covers a family photo album found in Antakya. AP Photo
A man made homeless by the 7.8-magnitude quake carries mattresses distributed by an NGO at a makeshift camp in Afrin, in Syria's Aleppo province. AFP
A cracked road near the quake’s epicentre in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. AFP
A rescuer stands near the site where Aleyna Olmez, 17, was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, about 10 days after the quake struck. AFP
A rescuer holds a cat after it was rescued from the ruins of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. AFP
Quake survivors queue for food amid the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters
Bedran, a local resident who lost his house in the earthquake, keeps warm in Antakya, Turkey. Reuters
A girl carries a box of water bottles next to a damaged mosque in Antakya. Reuters
A car lies crushed by parts of a badly damaged building in Samandag, Turkey. AP
Residentes remove their belongings from their destroyed house in Samandag. AP
Aleyna Olmez, 17, is rescued after being trapped for 10 days in Kahramanmaras. Getty
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, left, with Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Ankara. AFP
A message scrawled on a car covered in dust from collapsed buildings in Antakya, Turkey. AP
Destruction in Antakya. AP
A cracked road leads to a flooded area in Antakya. AP
A man looks bewildered at the site of collapsed buildings in Hatay, Turkey. EPA
Numbered stones near graves of earthquake victims at a cemetery in Adiyaman, Turkey. EPA
A makeshift camp set up amid the rubble in Antakya, south of Hatay. AFP
A woman holds her baby inside a tent in a camp in Antakya, Hatay. AFP
Greek and Turkish rescuers are at work to extract bodies of victims from the rubble in Antakya. AFP
Samar Hamouda, 44, recalls her experience of the earthquake destroying her home, at Tishreen Hospital in Latakia, Syria. Reuters
A damaged house in Jableh, Syria. Reuters
Photos of missing children left in hope in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
People collect copies of holy books from the rubble in Kahramanmaras. Reuters
Rescuers search for survivors under the rubble of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras. Reuters
People carry a bodybag as residents wait for their relatives to be pulled out from the rubble in Hatay. AFP
Dust covers a family photo album found in the debris of a building in Antakya. AP
Portuguese rescue team members try to free the dog named Tarcin from the rubble in Antakya in Hatay. EPA
An injured survivor at a makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP
A makeshift hospital set up at Turkish Bayraktar warship anchored near Iskenderun city, southern Turkey. AP
Britain's King Charles III (C) meets with members of the Turkish diaspora community who have been collecting, packaging and organising the transportation of food, blankets and warm clothing for people who have recently been affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, during a visit to the West London Turkish Volunteers, in Hounslow, greater London. AFP
People stand by the fire next to the ruins of a collapsed building in Elbistan, Turkey. Reuters
Destroyed buildings in Syria's rebel-held village of Atarib, in the north-western Aleppo province. AFP
Rescuers carry Fatma, 15, who was pulled out from the rubble in Hatay, Turkey. Reuters
A displaced woman receives food inside a stadium in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
People lineup to receive aid supplies at a makeshift camp in Iskenderun city in southern Turkey. AP
Humanitarian aid provided by Saudi Arabia for survivors of the February 6 earthquake are unloaded at Aleppo Airport in northern Syria. AFP
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the World Government Summit in Dubai via video link. Antonie Robertson/The National
A man walks between trains being using as shelters in Iskenderun, southern Turkey. AP Photo
A woman and children inside a train being used as shelter after the earthquake, in Iskenderun. AP Photo
Tents erected in a school yard for Syrians who have lost their homes after the deadly quake, in the rebel-held town of Harem in Syria. Reuters
A woman walks by the destroyed Habib-i Neccar mosque in the historic southern city of Antakya in Hatay, Turkey. AFP
Rescuers pull out a 12-year-old Syrian girl, Cudi, from the rubble in Hatay. AFP
Amar, a Syrian refugee living in Turkey, looks on as search for survivors continues in Kahramanmaras. Reuters
Displaced people keep warm by a fire in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
Earthquake survivors receive distributed meals in Golbasi, Turkey. AP
A woman stands amid boxes of donated clothes in Golbasi, Turkey. AP
A man walks near a damaged building that leans on a neighbouring house in Golbasi, Turkey. AP
UN emergency relief co-ordinator Martin Griffiths stands amid quake-damaged buildings in Aleppo, Syria. Reuters
Delegates observe a moment of silence for the Turkey–Syria earthquake before the start of the World Government Summit in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National
People keep warm by a fire as the search for survivors continues a week after the earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
A child receives food in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
A dog is seen through a glass door in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
Children walk in the street with food boxes in Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
A minaret stands as the sun rises over the earthquake-hit city of Kahramanmaras, Turkey. Reuters
Sinan Ulgen is the director of the Istanbul-based Edam think tank and a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe in Brussels
February 14, 2023
Disaster struck in the early hours of last Monday. A series of large earthquakes razed to the ground more than 6,000 buildings in the south-east of Turkey. Once the total number of casualties is known, this disaster is likely to rank among the deadliest earthquakes of the century. It is important, therefore, to assess the effectiveness of the Turkish government’s response to this disaster, but possibly even more importantly, to understand whether this calamity could have been avoided.
Since the early hours of the earthquake, Turkish government agencies and civil society have mobilised for the relief efforts. The international community has also moved rapidly with, at the last count, a hundred countries sending relief teams or disaster assistance to the region. This list of countries includes Greece, Armenia and Israel, raising hopes that this tragedy could unleash a wave of diplomatic rapprochement. And yet, with an affected geography spanning 450 kilometres, including 11 provinces with a total population of 15 million, the effort inevitably remains incommensurate with the size of the challenge. As a result, there is heavy criticism on the ground for the inadequacy of the state response. Most critically, in the first 24 hours, efforts relied mostly on AFAD, the civilian disaster response agency. But AFAD was unable to move rapidly to a system of decentralised decision making and co-ordination that would have allowed other actors such as the army of volunteers or the international teams to contribute more rapidly to ongoing rescue operations. In addition, the capacity of the country’s large-scale and well-endowed military was not put to effective use in a timely manner. Turkey’s thorny history of civil-military relations has come to haunt the relief response.
A rescue worker AFAD near the rubble of a collapsed residential building in Hatay on Sunday. Bloomberg
The hope is that this tragedy can finally change attitudes
Now with hopes dimming every passing hour for saving more people under the rubble, the challenge will be equally enormous. Turkey will need to cater to the immediate needs of, at the very least, hundreds of thousands of people who have been left homeless and without shelter. Even if their homes are still standing, it is very doubtful if they can return with the risks of aftershocks. Given the level of destruction of the overall infrastructure and the physical capacity to deliver core health and transport services, a return to normality in the distressed regions is, at best, months away. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised, for instance, the construction of permanent housing for all the internally displaced within a year.
Going forward, it will be necessary to ask whether Turkey could have avoided this catastrophe. And the response has to be an unambivalent “yes”. There are other countries in the world such as Japan that sit, just like Turkey, on critical fault lines. They also experience large-scale earthquakes. But unlike Turkey, their social contract has generated an effective response to the risk of natural disaster. Large-scale earthquakes in those countries do not lead to similar human losses. In return, Turkey has most tragically failed to emulate these countries in terms of the necessary reforms that would have enhanced resilience to natural disasters.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talks with women during his visit to the hard-hit south-eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir last week. AFP
On the contrary, since the transition to parliamentary democracy in 1946, society has incentivised governments to lower construction costs – and thus lower standards. In that period, governments passed 22 different bills to grant amnesties to informal buildings. In the last decade, under AK Party rule, 10 such laws have been adopted. Before tragedy struck, there was even a new initiative to promulgate yet another amnesty ahead of the critical elections this year. These amnesties, seen as populist measures, have created perverse incentives. Not only do they allow sub-standard constructions to be legalised, but they also motivate builders to continue to build them in that way knowing that with time, their constructions will in any case be licensed by way of a new amnesty. And yet, this crowd pleaser has now turned into a crowd killer. Many of the people who perished in last week’s earthquake lived in homes that did not conform to the stringent building regulations.
With the ever-growing risk, according to geologists, that a major earthquake is expected in Istanbul, the economic, industrial and cultural capital of the country, Turkey cannot anymore afford this warped version of its social contract. The hope is that this tragedy can finally change attitudes and raise awareness about change. In that sense, the nearness of the election date is possibly a good thing. The national debate will now necessarily shift to the issue of disaster management. And the outcome of this closely contested race will now be determined, in all likelihood, by whether the governing side led by Mr Erdogan’s AK Party or the main opposition led by Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s CHP will ultimately convince the electorate that they have a better plan to save Turkey from its next tragedy.
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Letstango.com
Started: June 2013
Founder: Alex Tchablakian
Based: Dubai
Industry: e-commerce
Initial investment: Dh10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples. Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts. Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
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.”
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Mamo Year it started: 2019 Founders: Imad Gharazeddine, Asim Janjua Based: Dubai, UAE Number of employees: 28 Sector: Financial services Investment: $9.5m Funding stage: Pre-Series A Investors: Global Ventures, GFC, 4DX Ventures, AlRajhi Partners, Olive Tree Capital, and prominent Silicon Valley investors.
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
