Turki bin Nasser

Turki bin Nasser (born 14 April 1948) is the former head of the presidency of meteorology and environment (PME) in Saudi Arabia and a member of House of Saud.

Early life and education

Turki bin Nasser was born on 14 April 1948.^[1] He is the seventh son of Nasser bin Abdulaziz.^[1] His mother is Muhdi bint Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Sudairi.^[1] Turki's mother is the sister of the mother of Sudairi brothers, Hassa bint Ahmad Al Sudairi. His father, Nasser bin Abdulaziz, was excluded from succession due to "dissolute" mores.^[2]

Turki bin Nasser holds a master's degree in political science ^[3] Furthermore, he received various military courses in the US and the United Kingdom and also, participated in six sessions of aviation courses in Saudi Arabia.^[1]

Career

Turki bin Nasser was assigned as flying officer with rank of lieutenant at King Abdulaziz Air Base in 1966. He became acting commander at the Transitional Training Unit in 1975. He then served as a commander from 1976 to 1984 at three different units; namely, Thirteen Squadron (1976), 3rd Flying Wing (1978) and King Abdulaziz Air Base in the Eastern Region (1984).^[1] From 1989 to 1994 he served as Al Yamamah project officer. Next, he became chief of air staff operations, peace shield project and peace hawk project in 1994.^[1]

Prince Turki began to serve as deputy commander at the Royal Saudi Air Force in 1996. He was appointed special advisor to late Prince Sultan in 2000.^[1] It is argued by the U.S. diplomatic documents that Turki bin Nasser did not try to hide his business activities when serving as a military officer and that Prince Mansour bin Bandar Al Saud was one of his business partners.^[4]

After leaving air force Turki bin Nasser was made the head of the presidency of meteorology and environment (PME), responsible for the protection of the environment and the conservation and development of natural resources in Saudi Arabia.^[3] Prince Turki is also the chairman of the Saudi environmental society.^[5] He is the chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi charity association for autism in Jeddah. A new center, Prince Nasser bin Abdulaziz Center for autism, affiliated to Saudi charity association for autism, was opened in Riyadh in April 2012.^[6] On 18 August 2013, a royal order was issued by King Abdullah to appoint Abdulaziz Al Jaser as head of presidency of meteorology and environment,^[7] replacing Prince Turki bin Nasser in the post.^[8]

Wealth

It is reported by The Guardian that Turki bin Nasser owns nearly 200 classic cars, a £20m private Boeing business jet, a large yacht, Sarah, a mansion in Beverly Hills and several houses in different cities such as Barcelona, Riyadh, Dharan and London. His London home is in Sussex Square, near Hyde Park.^[9]

Membership

Turki bin Nasser is Godfather of Al Qadsieh Saudi club. He is also an honor member of Al Nasr Saudi club.^[1] He is Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Arab Ministers, responsible for environment.^[1][10] He is also a member of the board of governors of the Saudi Wildlife Commission.^[11]

Controversy

See also Al-Yamamah arms deal

It was reported that Turki bin Nasser had allegedly received most from BAE's £60 m slush fund. It was further stated that he received at least £1 bn through an anonymous offshore company, Poseidon that was linked to Lebanese politician Mohammad Safadi who has been finance minister of Lebanon since June 2011.^[12] His name was linked with allegations of under-the-counter commission deals in the £50 bn al Yamamah contracts, which began under the administration of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.^[13] Therefore, he became the center of the investigation carried out by the United Kingdom's Serious Fraud Office in 2005.^[14]

Gardiner, the owner of a travel agency meeting the needs of BAE and its Saudi customers, declared that he had disbursed the money and much of it went to Turki bin Nasser, then-head of the Saudi Air Force and a major BAE customer. Other funds were also used indirectly for him, specifically for the honeymoon of Bandar bin Sultan’s daughter,^[15] who formerly married to Prince Turki's son Faisal bin Turki. It is further argued that Prince Turki's daughter was given a wedding video whose production cost BAE almost 200,000 pounds.^[14] One of the other allegations was that the wife of Prince Turki bin Nasser, Noura bint Sultan, was alleged to have received a 170,000 pound Rolls-Royce as a birthday present, flown out to Saudi Arabia in a cargo plane chartered by BAE.^[14][16] Another was about the arrangement of a 2 million pound three-month holiday for him and his family.^[14]

Personal life

Turki bin Nasser is married to Noura bint Sultan (born 1948) who is the daughter of late Sultan bin Abdulaziz.^[9][17][18]

His children are Faisal bin Turki, Abeer bint Turki, Areej bint Turki, married to Turki bin Abdul Aziz bin Thunayan Al Saud, Lamia bint Turki, Rima bint Turki, Abdullah bin Turki and Haifa bint Turki.^[1] His daughter, Areej bint Turki, opened an iCafe, Areej art cafe, in Riyahd in late May 2012.^[19]

Honors and awards

Turki bin Nasser has been awarded various national and international honors and awards, including the Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud (First class), Kuwait Liberation Medal, the Pakistani Military Excellence Star Decoration, Order of Merit of the American Commander Rank (Medal of Merit), National Order of Merit (Commander rank) and the French Medal of Honor (Cavalryman rank).^[1]

References