ISTANBUL // After an election race primarily fought on economic and domestic issues, Ankara's troubled relations with Israel have become a hot-button topic in Turkey's poll, due on June 12. Rival party leaders have increasingly tried to win support by portraying their respective foes as pro-Israel.
Once a close partner of Ankara, Israel has become extremely unpopular in Turkey, in large part because Israeli soldiers killed nine Turkish activists on a flotilla travelling to the Gaza Strip a year ago.
The stinging campaign comments come amid reports that the Turkish government is trying keep ties with Israel from fraying further in the advent of a new aid flotilla set to sail for Gaza from Turkey this month.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, used a campaign speech in Istanbul on Sunday to slam opponents for failing to stand up to what he sees as Israeli bullying. Mr Erdogan is a religiously conservative Muslim known for his outspoken criticism of Israel.
In his speech, Mr Erdogan said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the opposition leader, had admitted that he would not have allowed last year's Gaza flotilla to sail.
"People with courage and honour do not try to curry favour with Israel, they criticise piracy in the Mediterranean," said Mr Erdogan in a reference to the Israeli attack on the flotilla in 2010 that took place in international waters.
Speaking in the central Anatolian city of Konya on Saturday, Mr Erdogan reminded his audience that it was an Ankara government formed by the secularist Republican People's Party, the party now led by Mr Kilicdaroglu, that recognised Israel as a state in 1949.
Mr Kilicdaroglu shot back, claiming that Mr Erdogan, who is expected to win the elections, had cosied up to Israel. He alleged that the prime minister proposed that an Israeli company receive a Turkish government contract to clear mines along the border with Syria. Later he called Mr Erdogan the "co-leader of the Greater Middle East Project", a purported scheme by the US to reshape the region that is often cited by Turkish secularists as evidence that Mr Erdogan is backed by Washington. The plan supposedly props up Turkey as a model state for the concept of moderate Islam.
In a meeting with reporters in the southern province of Mersin yesterday, Mr Kilicdaroglu accessed Mr Erdogan of secretly sending one of his ministers to Israel to secure a deal for a Turkish businessman close to the prime minister. He gave no further details.
The public exchange shows the depth of the rift between Turkey and Israel that now extends from the halls of government to the bazaar. No party in Turkey has dared campaign on a pro-Israel platform.
Mr Erdogan's government insists that Israel apologise for last year's flotilla attack and pay compensation to the families of the victims. Israel has rejected those demands.
Although Ankara has said it will not stop the second flotilla from sailing at the end of this month, the government has also stressed the need to prevent a repeat of last year's fatal disaster.
The Hurriyet newspaper reported yesterday that Ahmet Davutoglu, the foreign minister, had proposed fresh tactics to avoid further tensions with Israel. Mr Davutoglu told reporters that Israel should recognise a Palestinian unity government and lift the Gaza blockade.
But he also added some public advice for the organisers of new flotilla, now just weeks away. He said they should hold off on the symbolic and controversial voyage until Israel's stance on the new Palestinian government, and the consequences of its recent opening of the Rafah border crossing, become clear.
tseibert@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
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.”
Klopp at the Kop
Matches 68; Wins 35; Draws 19; Losses 14; Goals For 133; Goals Against 82
- Eighth place in Premier League in 2015/16
- Runners-up in Europa League in 2016
- Runners-up in League Cup in 2016
- Fourth place in Premier League in 2016/17
Cracks in the Wall
Ben White, Pluto Press
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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