A Turkish court on Friday rejected an appeal to release an American pastor at the centre of a diplomatic crisis with the US, just a day after Washington threatened more sanctions if his detention continued.
The court ruled that Andrew Brunson would remain under house arrest, his lawyer Cem Halavurt said, adding that he would appeal again in 15 days.
Turkey's Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said on Friday that Turkey would respond to any further punitive US action.
"We've already responded based on the World Trade Organisation rules and will continue to do so," Mr Pekcan was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
The dispute has contributed to a steep fall in the Turkish lira this year, with the currency hitting record lows last Friday after US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish aluminium and steel. The lira had strengthened since then but dropped again immediately after Friday's court ruling, from 6.04 against the US dollar to 6.21.
The United States had warned Turkey on Thursday to expect more economic sanctions unless it handed over Mr Brunson, who has been held for two years on security-related charges.
US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin assured Mr Trump at a Cabinet meeting that sanctions were ready to be put in place if Mr Brunson was not freed.
“We have more that we are planning to do if they don’t release him quickly,” Mr Mnuchin said during the meeting.
_______________
Read more:
Qatar's pledge of $15 billion puts Doha on the wrong side of Washington
Turkish lira tumbles over threat of more US sanctions
The US-Turkey dispute, a play in three parts, has taught us that there is no rule of law in Turkey – there is only Erdogan's law
_______________
Meanwhile, Mr Trump said that the United States “will pay nothing” to Turkey for the release of detained American pastor Andrew Brunson, who he called “a great patriot hostage”.
“We will pay nothing for the release of an innocent man, but we are cutting back on Turkey!” Trump said on Twitter.
The United States and Turkey have exchanged tit-for-tat tariffs in an escalating attempt by Mr Trump to induce Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan into giving up Mr Brunson, who denies charges that he was involved in a coup attempt against Mr Erdogan two years ago.
“They have not proven to be a good friend,” Mr Trump said of Turkey during the Cabinet meeting. “They have a great Christian pastor there. He’s an innocent man.”
Mr Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, had issued a blunt warning to Turkish ambassador Serdar Kilic when he met him on Monday at the White House, an administration official said on Thursday.
When Mr Kilic sought to tie conditions to Mr Brunson’s release, Mr Bolton waved them aside and said there would be no negotiations.
“Release Brunson,” Mr Bolton told him, according to the official, who declined to be named.
Turkey has sought to persuade the United States to spare Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank from a threatened fine for allegedly helping Iran evade US sanctions. Ankara also wanted Washington to hand over Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and who Turkey suspects of plotting the coup against Mr Erdogan. Mr Gulen denies the allegations.
“They missed a big opportunity. This is very easy to resolve,” the administration official said. “They made a big mistake trying to tie this to other things.”
The dispute over Mr Brunson and other frictions between Washington and Ankara have been one reason the Turkish lira has plunged 40 percent this year. Investors also fret over Mr Erdogan’s influence over monetary policy.
The lira lost strength after Mr Mnuchin’s remarks.
Mr Trump, who has doubled steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey, said the steel tariffs had kicked in and the aluminium tariffs would take effect soon.
Aggro%20Dr1ft
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Harmony%20Korine%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Jordi%20Molla%2C%20Travis%20Scott%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
25%20Days%20to%20Aden
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Michael%20Knights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20256%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAvailable%3A%20January%2026%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
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.”
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
