The unseemly diplomatic spat Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has provoked with France needs to be seen in the context of his increasingly desperate attempt to position himself as the leader of the Islamist cause in the Middle East.
Trouble has been brewing between Mr Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron ever since the start of this year, when France announced it was providing military support to Greece and Cyprus in response to Turkey’s attempts to claim control over vast energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
The French initiative, which raised the risk of a direct confrontation between two key allies of the Nato alliance, led to an incident between the French and Turkish navies in June when the French frigate Courbet tried to intercept a Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship, Cirkin, suspected of shipping arms to Libya's Islamist-backed Government of National Accord.
The French accused Turkish warships, which were escorting the cargo vessel, of targeting the Courbet three times with their weapons systems, prompting the French to withdraw from a Nato naval exercise in protest.
The incident reflected the mounting tensions between Paris and Ankara over Libya, where Turkey is providing military backing to the GNA and France is supporting the rival Libyan National Army. Turkey’s insistence on carrying out drilling operations in the eastern Mediterranean in the face of strong objections by Greece and Cyprus has been another, major source of contention between the two countries.
And more recently, Mr Erdogan has been irritated by France’s strong condemnation of his support for Azerbaijan during the latter’s recent flare-up with Armenia over a disputed region of the Caucasus. Mr Macron has denounced Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan as “bellicose”.
Mr Erdogan’s dramatic call for Muslim countries to boycott French products is, therefore, the Turkish leader’s way of getting back at Mr Macron at a time when the French president is struggling to deal with a wave of Islamist-inspired terror attacks in his own country.
The French clampdown against extremist groups prompted Mr Erdogan to accuse Mr Macron of Islamophobia, an accusation the French leader vehemently denied
Sensing an opportunity to exploit the domestic political pressure Mr Macron has been under, following the brutal beheading of a French schoolteacher by a Chechen terrorist earlier this month, Mr Erdogan decided to launch deeply personal insults at the French leader.
He began last weekend, after Mr Macron pledged to crack down on Islamist groups, by claiming that the French President required a “mental health check-up”.
The murdered teacher, Samuel Paty, was killed after showing to his students copies of offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed which first appeared in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo five years ago. Charlie Hebdo was itself was the target of a high profile attack by extremists later that year.
Apart from detaining members of the Chechen killer’s family and associates, the French authorities launched a nationwide clampdown against a number of extremist groups. They also closed down a pro-Hamas mosque in Paris that was accused of being “directly implicated” in the murder.
The decision to shut down the “Cheikh Yassine Collective,” named after the founder of the Gaza-based militant organisation, was taken after the group’s founder and extremist Abdelhakim Sefrioui was held held by police for publishing a video on YouTube insulting Paty.
The French clampdown against extremist groups prompted Mr Erdogan to accuse Mr Macron of Islamophobia, an accusation the French leader vehemently denied. But the Turkish leader’s decision to call for a boycott of French goods represents a dramatic escalation in the stand-off between Ankara and Paris – one that could have profound implications for France and its relationship with the parts of the Islamic world.
With fears mounting that Mr Erdogan’s boycott call could result in further acts of violence against France, Paris earlier this week urged its citizens to take extra security precautions in a string of Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iraq and Mauritania.
And there were concerns that the Turkish leader’s provocative action could result in further terror attacks against French targets. On Thursday three people were killed and several others injured after a suspected terrorist knife attack at the Notre Dame church in Nice. The city’s Mayor, Christian Estrosi, said the attack appeared to be a terrorist incident.
In other suspected terrorism-related incidents, a guard was stabbed at a French consulate in Saudi Arabia, while a gunman was shot dead by French police in Avignon after threatening people with a handgun.
While it is unclear whether the latest upsurge in attacks, which took place on the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, are directly related to Mr Erdogan’s confrontational approach to France, there can be little doubt that his action has increased tensions between France and the Islamic world. It also represents a blatant attempt by the Turkish leader to boost his credentials as the leader of the extremist Muslim Brotherhood.
In order to defuse the growing crisis over Mr Erdogan’s conduct, it is therefore vital that the rest of the world sees the Turkish’s leader’s action as nothing more than opportunistic grandstanding.
Although Mr Macron has inflamed emotions with his disregard for the offence the cartoon causes, taking a stand against acts of terrorism does not amount to Islamophobia, a fact that needs to be given serious consideration if Mr Erdogan’s provocative action is to be prevented from causing further unnecessary bloodshed.
Con Coughlin is a defence and foreign affairs columnist for The National
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Healthy tips to remember
Here, Dr Mohamed El Abiary, paediatric consultant at Al Zahra Hospital Dubai, shares some advice for parents whose children are fasting during the holy month of Ramadan:
Gradual fasting and golden points - For children under the age of 10, follow a step-by-step approach to fasting and don't push them beyond their limits. Start with a few hours fasting a day and increase it to a half fast and full fast when the child is ready. Every individual's ability varies as per the age and personal readiness. You could introduce a points system that awards the child and offers them encouragement when they make progress with the amount of hours they fast
Why fast? - Explain to your child why they are fasting. By shedding light on the importance of abstaining from food and drink, children may feel more encouraged to give it there all during the observance period. It is also a good opportunity to teach children about controlling urges, doing good for others and instilling healthy food habits
Sleep and suhoor - A child needs adequate sleep every night - at least eight hours. Make sure to set a routine early bedtime so he/she has sufficient time to wake up for suhoor, which is an essential meal at the beginning of the day
Good diet - Nutritious food is crucial to ensuring a healthy Ramadan for children. They must refrain from eating too much junk food as well as canned goods and snacks and drinks high in sugar. Foods that are rich in nutrients, vitamins and proteins, like fruits, fresh meats and vegetables, make for a good balanced diet
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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.”
