Russia says Turkey's proposed military operation in Syria is an unwise move

Russia thinks a Turkish military operation in Syria would be unwise as it could destabilise the situation, the RIA news agency quoted Russia's Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentyev as saying on Wednesday.

Mr Lavrentyev said Moscow no longer considered Geneva a suitable venue for talks between Syrians, the TASS news agency reported.

He was in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, on Wednesday for talks with Turkey, Iran, and the Syrian government and rebels.

Turkey said it must act in Syria because Washington and Moscow broke promises to push the predominantly Kurdish group YPG 30 kilometres from the border after a 2019 offensive by Turkey and said attacks from YPG-controlled areas have increased.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said two weeks ago that Turkey would launch military operations in Syria to extend 30km deep safe zones along the border, aiming at the Tal Rifaat and Manbij regions and others further east.

Turkish-supported Syrian anti-government fighters in the town of Azaz in rebel-held northern Aleppo province head towards Kurdish-controlled town of Tal Rifaat. AFP

Russia, which warned at the weekend against military escalation in northern Syria, is sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for talks in Ankara on Wednesday.

The two countries have close ties and Ankara has sought to mediate talks over Russia's war in Ukraine. Their support for opposing sides in Syria may test President Vladimir Putin's relations with the only Nato member not to impose sanctions following the invasion.

The stakes are high for Mr Erdogan. Without at least tacit approval from Russia, President Bashar al Assad's powerful ally in the Syria conflict, a Turkish offensive would face an additional risk of casualties.

Russia and Turkey have checked each other's military ambitions at times during Syria's war, bringing them close to direct confrontation.

There have not yet been signs of a significant Turkish military build-up in the border region, but reports of rocket and artillery exchanges have become more frequent in the past two weeks.

Any Turkish operation would attack the YPG, a key part of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that controls large parts of north Syria and is regarded by Washington as an important ally against ISIS.

Ankara regards the YPG as a terrorist group and extension of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party.

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Four tips to secure IoT networks

Mohammed Abukhater, vice president at FireEye in the Middle East, said:

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- Besides a strong password, use two-step authentication. There should be a second log-in step like adding a code sent to your mobile number

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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.”

TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY

Centre Court

Starting at 2pm:

Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]

Not before 7pm:

Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)

Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]

Court One

Starting at midday:

Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)

Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)

Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)

Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)

Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)