Hürriyet Daily News published an article by Murat Yetkin headlined "Erdoğan’s irresistible rise to becoming Turkey’s sole ruler."
The article begins with the author's description of a recent incident which took place during the ceremony to mark the 146th anniversary of the Turkish Council of State in Ankara on May 10.
When Metin Feyzioğlu, a young professor of law, said that the presidential elections in August should produce a president who can embrace all of the population, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan interrupted him and said: "“Don’t be rude,” the author of the article writes. When the scholar protested, the head of the cabinet responded that Feyzioğlu was not expected to give a political message.
According to the author of the article, the whole incident demonstrates the way the Turkish prime minister thinks of himself and his position in the country's politics.
"Perhaps his tolerance was exhausted from being in a protocol position, listening to all the criticism from the men and women of the law. And he decided not to take that any longer," the author writes.
"Nevertheless, Erdoğan has made it clear that he doesn’t want to hear any cracked voice, any bit of criticism about his doings as he keeps going for the presidency," the article reads.
"But his latest stance has started to give indications that Erdoğan’s “Winner takes all” understanding is not limited to the executive power; he wants no checks and balances over his authority either. He really wants all of it," the author concludes.
"An American military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities would take a “fraction of one night” to complete should US President Barack Obama choose to order one, former prime minister Ehud Barak said in Washington on Thursday," an article published by the Jerusalem Post reads.
"Speaking to the Washington Institute for Middle East Policy, Barak said such an attack would be easier for the United States than last year’s planned campaign against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons infrastructure," the article reads.
“It’s a simpler operation to get rid of the [Iranian] arsenal,” Barak is quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Barak also issued a harsh condemnation of the White House, charging that Obama had changed the goal posts on what he would find acceptable from Tehran.
“The American administration changed its objective from no nuclear military Iran to no nuclear military Iran during the term of this administration,” Barak said, adding that the US “is perceived to have been weakened” over the last several years," the author of the article writes.
“It’s a simpler operation to get rid of the [Iranian] arsenal,” Barak is quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Barak also issued a harsh condemnation of the White House, charging that Obama had changed the goal posts on what he would find acceptable from Tehran.
“The American administration changed its objective from no nuclear military Iran to no nuclear military Iran during the term of this administration,” Barak said, adding that the US “is perceived to have been weakened” over the last several years," the author of the article informs.
