Most profiles of Kemal Kilicdaroglu describe Turkey’s main opposition presidential candidate as rather reserved and lacking charisma, in sharp contrast to the dynamism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
But after crafting what may be the most viral social media post in Turkish history, Mr Kilicdaroglu is suddenly as hot as Taylor Swift. Last week, with a single-word caption, he posted on Twitter a three-minute video of himself at his desk speaking frankly about identity and the choices we make.
Within two days, 100 million people had seen the tweet and nearly 28 million had watched the video (and they say Twitter is dead). It is reportedly the most popular video on Twitter since the start of 2022, topping others by the likes of Lionel Messi and Elon Musk.
It easily bested what many view as the most viral Turkish video, the rap song “Susamam”, which tallied 15 million views in four days in 2019. That video angrily highlighted a slew of social and economic problems and emerged as an anti-government anthem; Mr Kilicdaroglu’s provocation was much more subtle, and yet more of a shock.
“I am Alevi,” he declared, breaking an unspoken taboo before urging young voters to usher their country into a new era of virtue and unity.
Just as the Madrigal family of the Disney film Encanto famously does not talk about Bruno, most Turks do not talk about Alevism, at least not publicly. This is mainly because of a long history of discrimination.
Not to be confused with Alawites, Alevis are Turkey’s second-largest religious group after Sunnis, representing a fifth of the population, or some 15 million people. More akin to Sufism than Shiism, Alevi belief is a heterodox form of Islam, rather than orthodox. Over the centuries, the group has regularly faced persecution and marginalisation.
Most Turks do not talk about Alevism, at least not publicly
Turkey’s never had an Alevi president or prime minister, and some opposition leaders opposed naming Mr Kilicdaroglu as their presidential candidate as they feared his Alevi heritage would drive voters away.
But Mr Kilicdaroglu aims to turn all that on its head. Observers described the video as courageous and historic; it’s also powerfully sincere — a quality in short supply among too many politicians these days. Officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have taken the high road in response; one argued that Mr Kilicdaroglu sought to shift the focus onto identity because he fell short when it came to talent.
Nonetheless, some of their backers took a harder line. “May the mere memory of Sultan Selim keep your cult from power,” tweeted analyst Tallha Abdulrazaq, a regular contributor to government-run broadcaster TRT World. This comment sparked widespread outrage, with many reporting the tweet to Twitter as hate speech.
Visiting earthquake-hit Adiyaman province during Eid Al Fitr, Mr Kilicdaroglu was met by angry mobs, who shouted slurs and insults before assaulting his vehicle convoy. He ended up cancelling the rest of his stops and returning to Ankara.
The video seems to have stirred up conservative anger, though it’s impossible to gauge the extent of its political success until the election on May 14. It is clear, however, that rather than moving the debate beyond identity — “we’re not going to talk about identities anymore,” he asserts in the video — Mr Kilicdaroglu has put identity front and centre.
At the same time, he also created a new platform for catharsis. The video’s enduring impact may be social, rather than political, like an Alevi #MeToo or #BlackLivesMatter. “Is it possible I’ve never looked at a screen before and seen someone saying, ‘I’m Alevi’?” wondered Sinan Erensu, lecturer at Istanbul’s Bogazici University. “I don’t think I have.”
Mr Kilicdaroglu’s openness spurred Can Ozdemir, a 30-year-old computer engineer from Izmir, to explain in a tweet why he has never met his grandparents. Back in the 1990s, his mother’s parents forbade her from marrying his father because he was Alevi, so she was forced to leave her home and family to tie the knot.
She stayed away until Mr Ozdemir was 10 years old, when his mother took him to visit her home village in Aksaray province, hoping for a reunion. Her parents barred them from entering their home. “My mother and I returned to Izmir in tears,” he recalled.
His tweet has tallied more than a million views in just three days, and it’s one among hundreds. Oftentimes, this is how change begins.
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.”
Fireball
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
If you go
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.
