MIDEAST MIRROR 14.05.15, SECTION C (TURKEY & IRAN)
1- From today’s Turkish press
DISMISSAL OF GOVERNMENT GRAFT PROBE PROSECUTORS: Mehmet Tezkan has no sympathy for the dismissal of anti-government graft prosecutors in centrist Milliyet: "Those judges and prosecutors who threw the law into the waste paper basket are in the headlines again. In the past they were accusers; today they are the accused. In the past, the people they were accusing were screaming for the 'law'; today they are groaning about the 'law' themselves. There is nothing left to say. They are the ones who got rid of the law themselves."
Orhan Bursali laments the absence of the rule of law in secular, Kemalist Cumhuriyet: "The AKP (ruling Justice and Development Party) government has created a system that is lawless, arbitrary, has no judiciary, and is ruled by the orders of President Erdogan. If there is no law, there is nothing. If there is no law, there can be no human rights and freedoms. No justice. No democracy. Nothing. Turkey has sunk. If the law sinks, this means that nothing will be left apart from those who have power and who assume that they will survive."
Mumtazer Turkone questions the government’s motives in moderate, pro-Islamic, pro-Gulen Zaman: "The dismissal of four prosecutors and a judge did not take place according to legal procedures. Their defence was not accepted, the time limits were not taken into consideration. Apparently, Erdogan is trying to make a show of power. If the law is no longer valid, then politics has ended and we are only talking about palace intrigue. Only one logical question is left: What goal is served by this naked lawlessness that will wound the public conscience just before the elections?"
GENERAL ELECTIONS: Hakan Aksay describes a campaign of government intimidation in independent internet newspaper T24: "Erdogan is gaining strength from the tension, the infighting, the polarization and other divisions. He is frightening everyone. He is doing so consciously. Sometimes he casts such angry glances around that even the people watching him on the TV screens are inclined to pay attention as to how they sit."
Taha Ozhan blames the parliamentary system in centre-right, pro-government Star: "After experiencing the crisis caused by the current system for half a century in the severest manner, Turkey was able to move towards normalization with the AKP government. The AKP’s coming to power alone has been one of the most significant dynamics of this transformation, as well as its complex and deep political and social meaning. The only source from which the opposition finds succor and tries to gain strength in the 2015 elections, however, is the parliamentary system structure that produces instability."
SYRIA CRISIS: Cengiz Candar casts doubt on Turkey’s ambitions in Syria in centre-left Radikal "Can a giant Turkey, which also lays claim to the 'Ottoman heritage', achieve the result it seeks in Syria by tagging along behind the Saudi Arabian regime, hand in hand with the Wahhabism that appeared as a revolt against the Ottoman state? Cooperation between Turkey and Saudi Arabia has brought about Idlib and Jisr al-Shughour’s fall [into Syrian Islamist opposition hands] and revived speculation about the Assad regime’s life span. It is true that the Damascus regime has received a severe blow. However, it is doubtful that its days are numbered. Unless Iran and Russia abandon the Damascus regime, it can survive a lengthy 'war of attrition'."
2-From today’s Iranian press
NUCLEAR TALKS: Conservative Resalat accuses the U.S. of perfidy: "The U.S. has shown it is untrustworthy before and during the negotiations; it will also do so in the future. The recent agreement between Congress and the White House on the nuclear agreement shows the enemy's duplicity! Unlike our truthfulness, the U.S. continues its harmful behaviour by playing the game of 'good cop-bad cop' between the White House and Congress."
Reformist E'temad calls for better planning to retrieve Iran’s share in the oil market: "The parties have not yet reached a common view on how to remove sanctions. We should not waste time waiting for the final agreement. We should make plans and start dialogue to ensure the return of Iranian oil to the world market. It should be taken into account that the oil market may not return overnight and that we can revive our share only through proper management."
Reformist Mardom Salari is in a hurry: "The American administration is pressurized by Congress. To keep them happy, President Obama sometimes uses unconventional diplomatic language on the nuclear issue. We should recognize that both the American administration and Iran have concluded that the nuclear case should be settled as soon as possible through an agreement. This will lay the groundwork for limiting the influence of other players currently and in the future."
ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL: Conservative Hemayat does not trust the West or international organizations: "As the nuclear negotiations continue in Vienna, Yukiya Amano, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief, called on Iran to retreat from its red lines. Amano, however, did not clarify how applying the Additional Protocol can force a country to grant access to its military facilities. The protocol has not passed through all legal phases to be endorsed by Iran. It is not logical to rely on and trust organizations and other countries. That it is why we should listen to the wise remarks of the Leader of the Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei when he says: 'I am not optimistic about the negotiations.'"
Conservative Siyasat-e Ruz is adamant: "Why does the West and the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] insist that observers have access to Iranian military sites?! This demand has been frequently raised by IAEA chief Amano and the Americans. We assert that our military facilities cannot be observed and be accessible. The agency's head has had his own interpretation of the Additional Protocol of the NPT, but there is no clarification in that Protocol about visiting military sites. The agency is entitled to supervise nuclear facilities, but visiting military facilities is not within its mandate."
Conservative Khorasan worries about interpretations: "There is serious concern that interpretations of the additional protocol by Amano and people like him may become the benchmark for inspecting Iran's nuclear facilities. Such interpretations may broaden to include military facilities. When writing the final nuclear agreement, care should be taken in regard to security aspects of this protocol; the scope for personal interpretations should be excluded."
IRAQI PRESIDENT'S VISIT TO IRAN: Centrist Jomhuri-ye Eslami reminds: "The visit to Iran takes place at a time when Iraq faces many problems, in particular the foreign conspiracy of ISIS and terrorist attacks. One purpose of this visit is to expand ties to counter security threats. It was the Islamic Republic that extended a helping hand to the army and people of Iraq to confront ISIS attacks as soon as the central government requested help. Iran proudly passed this test."
SAUDI ARABIA/YEMEN: Hard-line Keyhan overstates: "Recently, Saudi-owned pan-Arab newspapers al-Hayat and al-Sharq al-Awsat in various articles urged Iran, particularly Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to help resolve the conflict in Yemen. This indicates that Saudi Arabia has reached a dead-end in this war and is looking for Iran's help."
Reformist Arman comments: "The peaceful resolution of problems in the Middle East is in everybody's interest. However, Saudi Arabia considers Yemen its backyard and tries to persuade other countries that Iran is interfering in Yemen. Saudi Arabia feels Iran is turning into a dominant power. The Saudi bombing of Yemen indicates that Saudi Arabia will lose its status in the region soon."
CAMP DAVID SUMMIT: Reformist Sharq warns: "American remarks about the agenda at the Camp David summit are disappointing because they emphasize the resumption of previous mistaken political games in the current chaotic situation in the region. Saudi bad behaviour, the expansion of terrorism and the emergence of Iran as a great power in the region are some outcomes of that game. The American-led wars in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq led to Iran's triumph. Of course, the U.S. did not start these wars with such goals in mind."
Hard-line Javan reads: "The fact that the cease-fire in Yemen and the summit at Camp David coincided raises the possibility that the main goal of the U.S. from the cease-fire has been the creation of a suitable psychological climate for the summit. Evidence indicates that America is trying to manage a new phase of Iran phobia by encouraging Persian Gulf states to accept the new U.S. missile defence system and normalize their relations with the Zionist regime."
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