The Guardian published an article by Faraz Sanei headlined "Don't
praise Iran's war on drugs." The Iranian regime won high praise last
month from Yuri Fedotov, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs
and Crime, Iran had "one of the world's strongest counter-narcotics
responses", he said, adding that its good practices "deserve theacknowledgment of the international community." Still the taken
measures remain inhuman, underlines the author. It has only been two
weeks after Iran's state media announced that 13 drug traffickers hadbeen executed in Mashhad's Vakilabad prison. It's outrageous to praise
the achievements of capital punishment practice, says Sanei.
The Moscow Times published the article by Sergey Petrov headlined "Can
Russia Survive Through 2020?" The author's answer to the question is
no. "I'm almost certain that Russia will not be able to survive in its
current borders through 2020. This is not an exaggerated, sensational
prognosis taken from the blogs of radical liberals or anarchists, but
a clear-headed, objective analysis based on the Kremlin's flawed
policies over the past decade," says Petrov. According to him, the
prospects for a country mired in archaic institutions, an oil- and
gas-dependent economy, systemic corruption, unprotected property
rights, corrupt courts, fraudulent elections and an apathetic
population can only be dim at best.
Hurriyet published an article entitled "Mubarak's trial and the new
political game in Egypt." The start of the trial of Hosni Mubarak, who
ruled Egypt from 1981 until his ouster last February due to public
protests, represents a watershed in Egyptian history, says theauthor.Mubarak is the first Egyptian President, who resigned from his
post and wasn't killed or died himself. Moreover he is currently on
trial and that's unprecedented.
Hurriyet laso published an article devoted to the recent resignations
in the Turkish military. The article is headlined "Crisis is over,
back to work." What happened in the last few weeks over the
resignations is a sharp turning point in the problematic
civilian-military relations in Turkey, strengthening the role of the
civilian authority, the author of the article believes.
