The US has installed a number of observation posts overlooking the Turkish border in Kurdish-controlled parts of northern Syria, in a move that has antagonised Washington's Nato ally, as it prepares for an offensive on its southern border.
"The observation posts are being established in areas along the border where there is a potential for clashes between Turkey and Kurdish forces," Nouri Mahmoud, a spokesperson for the People's Protection Units (YPG), told The National on Tuesday.
He refused to disclose how many observation posts the US has established, but said the regions of Tel Abyad, Ras Al Ain and Kobane, were among the places were observation posts were "deemed necessary".
Iraqi Kurdish outlet Rudaw reported on Friday that US forces have established at least five posts along the border.
Col. Sean Ryan, a spokesman for the US-led coalition said in an emailed statement that US forces are securing locations for manned observation posts "to support security and stability on the border, and improve the Coalition's situational awareness to enable the continued fight against ISIS."
"The goal is keeping all parties focused on ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS, our common enemy that still poses a significant threat to Syria, Iraq, Turkey and our partners around the world," he added.
The spokesman said that the US-led coalition does not define an observation post as a "permanent structure by military means," clarifying that the number of posts and their location could change at any moment, depending on developments.
Spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Mustafa Bali told The National that their purpose was to "deliver a message to Turkey that the coalition and its Kurdish partners in Syria do not pose a threat to Turkey's security."
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay called on the US on Monday to act as a partner that respects Ankara's operations against Kurdish rivals stationed across the border.
"As Turkey, our expectation from the US is for it to act according to the spirit of the alliance in every single area," Mr Oktay was quoted as saying by Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency. "We also want to see an America that respects Turkey's fight against terrorist organisations," he said, adding that an operation against Kurdish groups positioned in areas adjacent to Turkey's southern border is "on the agenda."
Earlier on Friday, Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told US Syria envoy Jim Jeffrey that the US should stop building posts along the border.
“The US should cut ties with the YPG, which is no different from the PKK," Mr Akar told the US envoy, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency, referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party – a militia waging a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish government.
The group is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union and works closely with the YPG.
"The US should also call off its plan to set up observation points in northern Syria,” Mr Akar said.
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Read more:
ISIS launches counterattack against SDF in eastern Syria
US observation posts in Syria aim to block Turkish attacks on YPG
Desperate Syrians risk lives at sea escaping Lebanon
Comment: Trapped between Turkey and the Assad regime, Syria's Kurds are now being squeezed by the US
_______________
Ankara has has previously expressed anger at US support for the YPG.
“During our talks with both political and civilian interlocutors we repeatedly expressed our unease in various ways,” said Mr Akar last month. “I think actions like this will make the complicated situation in the region even more complicated.”
President Recept Tayyip Erdogan has sent troops into northern Syria to attack Kurdish positions before and is reportedly angered by the observation posts.
According US Defense Secretary James Mattis, the posts are there to warn its Nato ally of any threats to Turkish territory. Turkish leaders see it as a plan to protect the Kurds.
US officials have warned that extending Turkish military action east along the Syrian frontier would raise the chances of a direct confrontation with American troops. It would also damage international efforts to prevent an ISIS resurgence by drawing Kurds away from a battle they fought for years to win, they say. Mr Erdogan rejects those arguments.
His aim instead is to dislodge the YPG from the stretch of land running from Manbij to the eastern border with Iraq.
The Trump administration hopes that the US-backed fight against ISIS in its last foothold in northeastern Syria will end within months. But a top US diplomat recently said American forces will remain to ensure the “enduring defeat” of the militant group.
Syria's long-oppressed Kurdish minority has established a semi-autonomous region in the north of the country, which has been wracked by conflict since 2011.
Turkey refuses to recognise the territory on its border, fearing it will stoke the separatist ambitions of Kurds in its own country.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
The biog
Year of birth: 1988
Place of birth: Baghdad
Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany
Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading
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Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
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Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7
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Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs
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Romelu Lukaku's goalscoring statistics in the Premier League
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
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Rating: 4/5
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.”
