Ekrem Imamoglu, the new mayor of Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul, centre right, and Mansur Yavas, the new mayor of Turkish capital, Ankara, embrace as they leave Kocatepe Mosque after Friday prayers, in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, April 26, 2019. AP
Ekrem Imamoglu, the new mayor of Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul, centre right, and Mansur Yavas, the new mayor of Turkish capital, Ankara, embrace as they leave Kocatepe Mosque after Friday prayers, in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, April 26, 2019. AP
Ekrem Imamoglu, the new mayor of Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul, centre right, and Mansur Yavas, the new mayor of Turkish capital, Ankara, embrace as they leave Kocatepe Mosque after Friday prayers, in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, April 26, 2019. AP
Ekrem Imamoglu, the new mayor of Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul, centre right, and Mansur Yavas, the new mayor of Turkish capital, Ankara, embrace as they leave Kocatepe Mosque after Friday prayers,

Turkey board to rule on Istanbul election re-run appeal


  • English
  • Arabic

A ruling on an appeal by Turkey's AK Party (AKP) calling for a re-run of the Istanbul mayoral election will be made on Monday by the High Election Board (YSK), the AKP's candidate said.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) won control of the capital Ankara and Istanbul, the country's biggest city, for the first time in 25 years in the local elections on March 31.

President Tayyip Erdogan's AKP and their nationalist MHP allies have called for the results in Istanbul to be annulled and re-run citing what they say are irregularities.

The YSK has ordered recounts across Istanbul and in its interim ruling it ordered district electoral officials to inspect their respective polling station officials.

"The YSK has examined our party's and the MHP's objections to the Istanbul election results. I believe it will make a decision tomorrow," said AKP candidate Binali Yildirim, a former prime minister.

He spoke to reporters after morning prayers on Sunday, the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

On Saturday, Mr Erdogan signalled he favours a re-run of the Istanbul elections, which he said were marred by controversy and irregularities, adding that renewing the vote would allow the YSK to "clear its name".

Istanbul's new CHP mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, said on Saturday that the objections were unreasonable and that they could "only laugh at this". CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has said the Istanbul elections had turned into a test for Turkish democracy.

Mr Erdogan had accused the opposition of supporting "terrorism" and labeled the local election a "matter of survival" for Turkey during his campaign, which was held amid growing disenchantment among voters over economic woes.

The uncertainty over the results in Istanbul, which accounts for around a third of the country's economy, has kept financial markets on edge, as Turkey tries to recover from a currency crisis that saw the lira lose more than 30 per cent of its value last year.

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

HIJRA

Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy

Director: Shahad Ameen

Rating: 3/5

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.”

What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
 
  • Grade 9 = above an A*
  • Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
  • Grade 7 = grade A
  • Grade 6 = just above a grade B
  • Grade 5 = between grades B and C
  • Grade 4 = grade C
  • Grade 3 = between grades D and E
  • Grade 2 = between grades E and F
  • Grade 1 = between grades F and G