Hürriyet Daily News published an article by Serkan Demirtaş headlined "Presidential elections after the Soma tragedy."
"As the country continues its efforts to heal the wounds after the tragic mine accident that killed 301 workers on May 13, with the government planning a package of new regulations to improve the working conditions of mine workers, the discussion over the upcoming presidential elections is gaining its place in the political agenda," the article reads.
"On the Justice and Development Party (AKP) side, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is almost certainly the ruling party’s presidential candidate. Both inter-party consultations and public opinion polls conducted by the party have identified Erdoğan as the AKP’s presidential candidate. But the announcement will have to wait a little more, as the pain is still fresh from the Soma accident and Erdoğan does not want to cast a shadow upon the national mourning," the author writes.
"In an address to his party fellows on Friday, Erdoğan stressed that they would announce their candidate within a very short period of time, as there are only two-and-half-months left to the polls," the article reads.
"Erdoğan perfectly knows that the only way to make his potential presidency an efficient and strong one - as he reportedly described - is to let his AKP win a good majority of parliamentary seats in next year’s polls. That’s why Erdoğan is not mulling over his presidential bid, but also his successor as the AKP chairman. With concerns that the three-term rule will cause an important “blood loss” inside the party and therefore in the upcoming local elections, there are more and more who call on Erdoğan to hand over the party to Abdullah Gül," the author writes.
"What puts Erdoğan and the AKP in a stronger position to win the presidential election is the opposition parties’ desperateness in introducing strong candidates to stand against the prime minister. The calls of the two main opposition parties, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), for a joint candidate are unlikely to be realized as the parliamentary groups of both parties’ are not very warm to the idea," the author believes.
"One question pending is whether Erdoğan can still take 50 percent of votes in the first round of elections on Aug. 10. If he can make it as a politician whose main strategy and rhetoric is based on polarization, whose government has been shaken with massive corruption and fraud claims, whose international reputation has almost been zeroed, and who can no longer control his anger against his opponents, it will surely be a success," the author of the article concludes.
The Jerusalem Post published an articke devoted to the Iranian-Israeli conflict.
"The Iranian military highlighted its full preparedness in the event of foreign aggression on Thursday, just days after nuclear talks in Vienna ended with no progress made," the article reads.
"The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will never be caught unawares, and should the enemy want to act on the immature fantasy of aggression, it will face a crushing and lethal response by the Armed forces,” commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan is quoted as saying by the newspaper.
“Today, we are facing new threats that are different from [those in] the past in terms of type, shape and size,” the commander added.
