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Wealthy Afghans look overseas for bolt-hole
By Michael Peel
Turkey's economy, the eighth largest in Europe at $772 billion, will grow by at least 4 percent this year, according to government forecasts. Photographer: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg©Bloomberg
Rich Afghans have been buying up property in Turkey as an insurance policy against possible problems at home after the drawdown of international military forces and aid money.
Business people, government officials and others who have profited from the overseas cash washing through Kabul since the US-led invasion in 2001 have flocked to property in cities such as Istanbul and Antalya, after Ankara relaxed rules on foreign ownership.
While some educated and moneyed Afghans say that they are optimistic about the future after this month’s landmark national elections, the embrace of Turkey is a sign of how others are hedging their bets in case the country returns to conflict.
“There were a lot of rumours about insecurity after the elections and after the withdrawal of the foreign troops,” said Shoaib Najafizada, a 30-year-old analyst and journalist who still lives in Afghanistan but bought a $230,000 flat in Istanbul in 2013. “Turkey is a nice place and it’s an Islamic country. It’s a good opportunity for Afghans.”
Estate agents and others say Turkey has begun to eat into Dubai’s traditional status as wealthy Afghans’ refuge of choice from potential violence back home. While the first round of Afghanistan’s presidential elections went better than many feared on April 5, the poll is now headed for a tense run-off in June against the looming backdrop of the withdrawal of most Nato forces by the end of the year.
Ghulam Mujtaba Niazi, chief executive of Beautiful Afghanistan, a Kabul-based property dealership, said he had helped 70 clients invest more than $5m in Turkish property in the past year.
He said people were looking overseas because the property market had fallen in the Afghan capital amid the security uncertainties and Taliban attacks, with prices contracting by up to 20 per cent in the historically safest areas, and by as much as half in some suburbs.
“There are some people [buying in Turkey] who are really rich, but there are also people who sell their houses here and buy one there,” he said. “They want to escape from this country.”
Sales of Turkish property to overseas buyers soared in 2013 after law changes that make it easier for foreigners to own property and offer them the possibility of securing residency. The Turkish government did not respond to a request for details of property purchases by Afghans, but people familiar with the matter say there has been a significant uptick in buying – including by dozens of prominent people inside and outside government.
Farid Ahmad Qarizada, an Afghan who runs an Istanbul-based property business, said he was receiving 30 or more expressions of interest a month and had sold more than 110 houses and flats to Afghans since last year, with values ranging from $60,000 to $3.5m. He said housing was cheaper than in Kabul, bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Turkey were good – and Ankara was seen as a secure guarantor of investments.
“For years, Afghans were looking for immunity and safety for their capital and families,” he said. “Once Pakistan and Iran were attractive – and now it is Turkey.”
Additional reporting by Zabihullah Tamanna
1. Afghans and Turks have a lot of similarities. They are both non-Arab Sunni Hanafi Muslims with a Persian and Sufi influence.
The Turks became Muslims via the Iranians and Afghans are an Iranic people with a sizeable Turkic minority (e.g. Uzbeks). The Turks have many Persian words in their language which Afghans and south Asian Muslims have.
- Namaz (prayer/Salah in Arabic)
- Gunah (sin/ithm in Arabic)
2. Afghans and Turks look similar. Turkey is a heterogenous country consisting of many Muslim groups resident in Anatolia and also from the Balkans and Caucasus. The original Turks came from central Asia, north of Afghanistan anyway.
3. Turks accept other Muslim ethnic groups integrating in to their culture i.e. unlike Pakistan, Iran or the gulf a 2nd generation Afghan would be accepted as 100% Turkish but with Afghan blood.
By Michael Peel
Turkey's economy, the eighth largest in Europe at $772 billion, will grow by at least 4 percent this year, according to government forecasts. Photographer: Kerem Uzel/Bloomberg©Bloomberg
Rich Afghans have been buying up property in Turkey as an insurance policy against possible problems at home after the drawdown of international military forces and aid money.
Business people, government officials and others who have profited from the overseas cash washing through Kabul since the US-led invasion in 2001 have flocked to property in cities such as Istanbul and Antalya, after Ankara relaxed rules on foreign ownership.
While some educated and moneyed Afghans say that they are optimistic about the future after this month’s landmark national elections, the embrace of Turkey is a sign of how others are hedging their bets in case the country returns to conflict.
“There were a lot of rumours about insecurity after the elections and after the withdrawal of the foreign troops,” said Shoaib Najafizada, a 30-year-old analyst and journalist who still lives in Afghanistan but bought a $230,000 flat in Istanbul in 2013. “Turkey is a nice place and it’s an Islamic country. It’s a good opportunity for Afghans.”
Estate agents and others say Turkey has begun to eat into Dubai’s traditional status as wealthy Afghans’ refuge of choice from potential violence back home. While the first round of Afghanistan’s presidential elections went better than many feared on April 5, the poll is now headed for a tense run-off in June against the looming backdrop of the withdrawal of most Nato forces by the end of the year.
Ghulam Mujtaba Niazi, chief executive of Beautiful Afghanistan, a Kabul-based property dealership, said he had helped 70 clients invest more than $5m in Turkish property in the past year.
He said people were looking overseas because the property market had fallen in the Afghan capital amid the security uncertainties and Taliban attacks, with prices contracting by up to 20 per cent in the historically safest areas, and by as much as half in some suburbs.
“There are some people [buying in Turkey] who are really rich, but there are also people who sell their houses here and buy one there,” he said. “They want to escape from this country.”
Sales of Turkish property to overseas buyers soared in 2013 after law changes that make it easier for foreigners to own property and offer them the possibility of securing residency. The Turkish government did not respond to a request for details of property purchases by Afghans, but people familiar with the matter say there has been a significant uptick in buying – including by dozens of prominent people inside and outside government.
Farid Ahmad Qarizada, an Afghan who runs an Istanbul-based property business, said he was receiving 30 or more expressions of interest a month and had sold more than 110 houses and flats to Afghans since last year, with values ranging from $60,000 to $3.5m. He said housing was cheaper than in Kabul, bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Turkey were good – and Ankara was seen as a secure guarantor of investments.
“For years, Afghans were looking for immunity and safety for their capital and families,” he said. “Once Pakistan and Iran were attractive – and now it is Turkey.”
Additional reporting by Zabihullah Tamanna
1. Afghans and Turks have a lot of similarities. They are both non-Arab Sunni Hanafi Muslims with a Persian and Sufi influence.
The Turks became Muslims via the Iranians and Afghans are an Iranic people with a sizeable Turkic minority (e.g. Uzbeks). The Turks have many Persian words in their language which Afghans and south Asian Muslims have.
- Namaz (prayer/Salah in Arabic)
- Gunah (sin/ithm in Arabic)
2. Afghans and Turks look similar. Turkey is a heterogenous country consisting of many Muslim groups resident in Anatolia and also from the Balkans and Caucasus. The original Turks came from central Asia, north of Afghanistan anyway.
3. Turks accept other Muslim ethnic groups integrating in to their culture i.e. unlike Pakistan, Iran or the gulf a 2nd generation Afghan would be accepted as 100% Turkish but with Afghan blood.