The Russian-made S-400 missile system in action. The US announced on Monday it would be issuing sanctions against Turkey for its controversial purchase of the missile defence system in 2017. AFP
The Russian-made S-400 missile system in action. The US announced on Monday it would be issuing sanctions against Turkey for its controversial purchase of the missile defence system in 2017. AFP
The Russian-made S-400 missile system in action. The US announced on Monday it would be issuing sanctions against Turkey for its controversial purchase of the missile defence system in 2017. AFP
On Monday, the US sanctioned Turkey, a fellow Nato power, over its procurement of the Russian-made S-400 air defence missile system. Ankara first purchased the system in 2017, provoking much ire in Washington. The new sanctions are designed to avoid wider damage to Turkey's fragile economy, focusing instead on the country's defence establishment.
Sparing Turkey's economy gives both nations room for de-escalating tensions at some point in the future, and US State Department officials have said they hope the Turkish government will engage in finding a solution. Nonetheless, it is the most meaningful statement yet of American discontent at the direction in which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been taking his country. It is also perhaps the most significant rift to emerge within Nato in years.
In addition to the S-400, there is a host of other disagreements between the two countries. The US has also taken action against Turkish banks for helping Iran dodge American sanctions. Mr Erdogan has criticised US support for Israel, as well as Washington’s refusal to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric whom Ankara blames for a coup attempt against Mr Erdogan in 2016.
The controversial record of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led to the US and possibly the EU imposing sanctions on the country, despite it being a key member of the Nato alliance. AP
The sanctions are the most meaningful statement yet of American discontent at the direction President Erdogan is taking his country
Turkey also deeply opposes US support for the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, a group that it deems a terrorist organisation. Since 2016, Turkey has on three separate occasions forayed into northern Syria to target the YPG, even as the group’s officers were supported by US military advisers and while it was playing an important role fighting extremists. This happened most recently last year, after which US President Donald Trump, who normally sought good relations with Turkey's Islamist president, threatened in a tweet to "obliterate the Economy (sic) of Turkey".
On top of this, Mr Erdogan's politics have alienated the EU. European leaders are preparing to place sanctions on Turkey, though they will not have the same bite as the American sanctions, given the dollar's supremacy in international markets. EU measures are expected to target people involved in Turkey's controversial energy exploration expeditions into the eastern Mediterranean earlier this year.
Mr Erdogan’s path renders such responses from great powers inevitable. It was not always this way – for a long time Turkey was seen as a reliable and vital Western ally. In the early days of Mr Erdogan's presidency, Turkish accession to the EU was a realistic and much-anticipated prospect. Today, it is at most a counterfactual thought experiment.
The damage to Turkey, as well as to the geopolitical interests of its Nato allies, from Ankara’s decline will be long-lasting unless Mr Erdogan’s course is reversed. In the meantime, it weakens the multilateral spirit needed to deal with issues like the migration crisis, in which Turkey plays a vital role, given its geographical location and generous hosting of an estimated 4 million refugees as of 2020.
The West and the Middle East alike need Ankara’s constructive involvement in fighting international terrorism, revitalising the regional economy and creating a more stable and prosperous environment for the region’s people. That does not appear to be the path chosen by its current leadership. Turkey is a nation that straddles two continents, but it can offer nothing to either if its leaders insist upon setting it adrift.
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area. Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife. Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”. He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale. Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Emirates and Etihad fly to Johannesburg or Cape Town daily. Flights cost from about Dh3,325, with a flying time of 8hours and 15 minutes. From there, fly South African Airlines or Air Namibia to Namibia’s Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, for about Dh850. Flying time is 2 hours.
The stay
Wilderness Little Kulala offers stays from £460 (Dh2,135) per person, per night. It is one of seven Wilderness Safari lodges in Namibia; www.wilderness-safaris.com.
Skeleton Coast Safaris’ four-day adventure involves joining a very small group in a private plane, flying to some of the remotest areas in the world, with each night spent at a different camp. It costs from US$8,335.30 (Dh30,611); www.skeletoncoastsafaris.com
PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
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.”
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
