A Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced five men to life in jail for the 2016 murder of the Russian ambassador by a gunman who sought vengeance for Moscow's support of Syrian forces' destruction of Aleppo.
Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov was 62 when he was gunned down by 22-year-old Turkish police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas at a photo exhibition in Ankara.
The gunman shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is greatest) and "Don't forget Aleppo", in reference to the Syrian city that President Bashar Al Assad's forces obliterated with Russian backing at the height of the decade-long war.
Altintas was shot dead by police shortly afterwards.
Turkey and Russia remain on opposing sides in Syria but are still working closely together on trying to bring an end to the conflict.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the time called Karlov's murder a "provocation especially aimed at disrupting the normalisation process of Turkey-Russia relations".
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it received news of the convictions with "satisfaction".
Syria tensions
Turkish media reports said the suspects were convicted of aiding and abetting the gunman.
Six others were acquitted, while seven were convicted of membership of an armed terrorist group, in a trial that started in January 2019.
Turkey blamed the movement led by Fethullah Gulen – a US-based preacher seen as Mr Erdogan's arch-foe – for the murder.
Prosecutors alleged that the movement sought to bring Turkey and Russia to the brink of a "hot war".
Ankara also accuses Mr Gulen of orchestrating a failed coup to topple Mr Erdogan in 2016 and refers to the movement as the Fethullah Terrorist Organisation.
Tensions over Syria dominated Ankara's relations with Moscow during Karlov's term as ambassador – especially when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border in November 2015.
Russia imposed a series of sanctions on Turkey as a result.
But Mr Erdogan apologised in 2016 for the incident and relations had begun to improve when Karlov was shot dead.
The Kremlin has treated Turkey's claim that Mr Gulen's movement was responsible for the assassination with caution.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Moscow "continues to believe that a large part of the responsibility for the crime is carried by certain groups that, on the eve of Karlov's murder, artificially whipped up negative sentiments in the media on social platforms about Russia and Syria".
The Russia ministry statement also praised "the Turkish justice system for decisively condemning this terrorist act".
Intelligence agents
Karlov's widow, Marina Karlova, said at the opening hearing of the trial that she believed the murder was aimed at hurting ties between Russia and Turkey.
Turkey's NTV television station said Turkish intelligence agent Vehbi Kursad Akalin was given an aggravated life sentence – under which a prisoner can be paroled after serving 36 years or 40 years – after he "leaked information on Karlov to the [Gulen] movement".
Two other suspects were given two aggravated life sentences. These replace the death penalty after it was abolished in 2004.
A total of 28 suspects – including Mr Gulen and eight other fugitives – were originally put on trial.
Tens of thousands of people have been arrested over alleged links to Mr Gulen since 2016 and many more public sector workers have been sacked or suspended over such claims.
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Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
Living in...
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.
Our legal advisor
Rasmi Ragy is a senior counsel at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Prosecutor in Egypt with more than 40 years experience across the GCC.
Education: Ain Shams University, Egypt, in 1978.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
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.”
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The past winners
2009 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
2010 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
2011 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2012 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
2013 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
2014 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2015 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2016 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2017 - Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 0
Liverpool 2 (Mane 50', 54')
Red card: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)
Man of the match: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
