ISTANBUL // In a politically charged trial that has exposed tensions between ruling politicians and the military in Turkey, a court yesterday began proceedings against two former high-ranking generals and other suspects accused of plotting to bring down the government of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The charges were brought against Hursit Tolon, a former commander of Turkey's prestigious First Army Corps, and Sener Eruygur, a former leader of the gendarmerie, as well as 54 other suspects.
They are part of a wide-ranging investigation against a right-wing group named Ergenekon, which prosecutors claim gathered arms and intelligence, named hit squads and committed terrorist attacks in an effort to provoke a military coup.
Prosecutors seek multiple life sentences against both Mr Tolon and Mr Eruygur for leading Ergenekon and organising such attacks as the killing of a high-ranking judge in Ankara in 2006.
According to the prosecution, that murder was committed to create the impression that Islamist extremists were running amok in Turkey.
For the same reason, Ergenekon organised a hand grenade attack on the building of an opposition newspaper, the prosecution argues.
Several dozen other Ergenekon suspects, among them former and serving army officers, have been on trial since last autumn.
But the new group, charged under an indictment that is 1,909 pages long, includes so many high-profile government opponents that observers said yesterday's start of the second trial marked the decisive moment of a legal saga that many regard as a watershed for Turkey.
"The real trial starts now," columnist Okay Gonensin wrote in the Vatan newspaper.
For Turkey, the Ergenekon trial is new territory, marking the first time that leading members of the military have to face justice over suspected plots against an elected government.
In a controversial decision last month, parliament passed a law that gives the civilian judiciary more power to put military officers on trial, although the constitutional court may annul it.
The case of Ergenekon, named after the mythical home of the Turks in Central Asia, has divided public opinion and has brought tensions between civilian and military leaders in Ankara into the open.
The Turkish military, which has pushed four governments from power since 1960 and regards itself as the guardian of secularism, has criticised what many officers see as Islamist tendencies under the current government and even threatened a coup two years ago.
Last year, the general staff made clear its concerns about the charges against Mr Tolon and Mr Eruygur by sending an official delegation to visit them in prison during their time in custody.
Government supporters say the Ergenekon case shows that some elements in the army are ready to use undemocratic and violent means to get rid of a political leadership they deem a danger to secularism.
Critics argue the trial includes trumped-up charges and is a politically motivated government ploy to blacken the military's image.
Yesterday's trial kicked off in a specially built courtroom in a prison in Silivri, a town 30km west of Istanbul that became the home of the Ergenekon proceedings last year because of the large number of suspects. The judge now has to decide whether to unite the Ergenekon cases.
A third indictment dealing with Ergenekon and including a further 52 suspects has also been sent to the court, news reports said yesterday.
If the court accepts it, the total number of people charged in connection with Ergenekon will be close to 200.
Outside the prison complex, about 50 people supporting Tuncay Ozkan, a journalist and Ergenekon suspect, shouted slogans.
Some of them wore T-shirts with a picture of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Another group from the Human Rights Association, a leading rights group, also gathered in front of the prison and demanded that those responsible for extrajudicial killings in Turkey's Kurdish region in the 1990s face justice.
One of the accused in the Ergenekon trial, Levent Ersoz, a former military officer, has been named as a key figure in those crimes.
Mr Tolon, who was freed after seven months in custody, appeared in court yesterday, but Mr Eruygur, released from custody for health reasons, did not. Another high-profile suspect in the courtroom was Ferda Paksut, the wife of a judge of Turkey's constitutional court, who is known as a government critic.
Mrs Paksut is accused of aiding Ergenekon.
As the judge began proceedings in Silivri by checking the identity of the accused, the future of the trial was unclear.
In Ankara, a body charged with staffing courts and prosecution offices around the country and made up of judges and government representatives was locked in a bitter row about whether or not key players in the Ergenekon trial should be changed.
According to press reports, government critics in the body, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, have been pushing to have the leading prosecutor in the Ergenekon trial, Zekeriya Oz, removed from the case.
Even media that have been critical of the government have appealed to the council to leave Mr Oz on his post, because his removal would smack of interference.
@Email:tseibert@thenational.ae
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
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Game 3: Saturday (UAE)
* if needed
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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.”
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The five types of long-term residential visas
Obed Suhail of ServiceMarket, an online home services marketplace, outlines the five types of long-term residential visas:
Investors:
A 10-year residency visa can be obtained by investors who invest Dh10 million, out of which 60 per cent should not be in real estate. It can be a public investment through a deposit or in a business. Those who invest Dh5 million or more in property are eligible for a five-year residency visa. The invested amount should be completely owned by the investors, not loaned, and retained for at least three years.
Entrepreneurs:
A five-year multiple entry visa is available to entrepreneurs with a previous project worth Dh0.5m or those with the approval of an accredited business incubator in the UAE.
Specialists
Expats with specialised talents, including doctors, specialists, scientists, inventors, and creative individuals working in the field of culture and art are eligible for a 10-year visa, given that they have a valid employment contract in one of these fields in the country.
Outstanding students:
A five-year visa will be granted to outstanding students who have a grade of 95 per cent or higher in a secondary school, or those who graduate with a GPA of 3.75 from a university.
Retirees:
Expats who are at least 55 years old can obtain a five-year retirement visa if they invest Dh2m in property, have savings of Dh1m or more, or have a monthly income of at least Dh20,000.
2.0
Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
