MIDEAST MIRROR 26.10.18, SECTION C (TURKEY & IRAN)
From today’s Turkish press
KHASHOGGI AFFAIR: Ertugrul Ozkok expects new developments in the Khashoggi affair in center-right Hurriyet: "The Washington Post has reported that the U.S. Senate could call on CIA director Gina Haspel for a briefing. I think that would represent a major step. Haspel is herself an interrogator and the things she is going to talk about could move the issue from the White House and turn it into a more institutionalized means of pressure."
LOCAL ELECTIONS: Sabahattin Onkibar suggests that the president is capable of anything in ultra-nationalist opposition Aydinlik: "Erdogan could go arm-in- arm with the U.S again. He could take the East of the Euphrates and the [Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units] YPG off his agenda again. He could start a new love affair with the EU, which he once attacked as 'crusaders'. He could agree to withdraw troops from Cyprus. He could sit down for talks with the HDP [pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party] again. He could agree to an IMF program after the local elections. In reference to Russia and China, he could say: 'They're communists, anyway.' On Iran, he could say, 'They are just the remnants of Shiites and Persians'. These are all possibilities. The opposite could also happen. But tell me, would you be 'surprised' if they did?"
Kazim Gulecyuz sees a parting of the ways within the ruling alliance in pro-Islamist opposition Yeni Asya: "How can the People's Alliance between the MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] and AKP [ruling Justice and Development Part] continue when the list of issues causing polemics between them keeps mounting? What will they all do when the MHP's draft criminal amnesty law gets pushed aside and the AKP's version comes to parliament? It seems that the AKP will be left alone after its alliance with the MHP ends, and that it will be obliged to look for another partner to top up its numbers in a critical vote."
Nuh Albayrak hopes to sustain the alliance in pro-government Star: "The 'People's Alliance' should continue until the executive presidential system is fully institutionalized. With this understanding, we have attributed the utmost importance to the 'Yenikapi spirit' and the alliance that it produced ever since the July 2016 coup attempt. With this in mind, it was obvious that one-sided, surprise statements about issues relating to both parties, such as the amnesty bill and the local election alliance, would affect the alliance negatively."
Mahmut Ovur notes the difficult search for candidates in pro-government Sabah: "In Ankara's power halls, the talk is also about possible municipal candidates. But nothing is certain. All the parties are searching for suitable candidates. Names that are spelled out or opened to debate are little more than assumptions. This also plays into the hands of the political parties. They check whom public opinion is talking about and how it reacts to certain names. The opposite is also being considered: The possibility that names are being circulated simply to damage them by unnecessary marketing. This is why parties are paying utmost attention to prevent any surprising names from being leaked."
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE: Rahmi Turan reminds the president of the separation of powers in nationalist opposition Sozcu: "President Erdogan cried out: 'What is this about? Am I supposed to check with the Court of Cassation before I sign a decree?' He could not help himself. He added: 'If I have to seek permission of the Court of Cassation, I better not hold this office.' He said all this looking at the faces of judges in a symposium. He was obviously quite upset about the Court of Cassation's ruling that allowed the nationalist Student's Oath to return to schools. Such aggressive behavior and words mean 'pressure on the judiciary'! Mr. Erdogan: The duty of the Court of Cassation is to rule in compliance with the laws of the Republic of Turkey and on behalf of the Turkish nation."
Iran media watch
(Please note that Iranian newspapers do not publish on Fridays and Channel One (IRTV1) does not air its morning news bulletin.)
ARBA'EEN: Domestic broadcast media this morning led with preparations ahead of the Arba'een ceremonies that mark 40 days after the anniversary of the third Shiite Imam Hussein’s death in the battle of Karbala. Most pilgrims will footslog across the border to attend the main event in Iraq on 30 October. State radio VIRI reported that up to 1.8 million Iranians have registered to take part in the pilgrimage, adding that so far 1.7 million have received visas. More than 1.3 million pilgrims have already entered Iraq, the radio added.
ICJ RULING: All broadcast media, including English-language Press TV, highlighted a statement by Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, who urged the world to abide by a recent ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic. He called on the U.S. "to implement the provisional measure, including refraining from measures such as wrongful sanctions that will aggravate disputes," Press TV said. "Other states are also expected to refrain from assisting the U.S. in imposing any impediments in transactions involving specified items, which would amount to violation of the court's order and would be tantamount to providing assistance to the wrongdoer," rolling news channel IRINN quoted the Iranian envoy as saying. On 3 October, the ICJ ruled on an Iranian lawsuit against U.S. government sanctions, ordering Washington to lift restrictive measures linked to humanitarian trade, food, medicine and civil aviation.
SOCIAL MEDIA: A group of pro-regime users have commented after Twitter suspended the accounts of some hardline users apparently due to their anti-Israeli comments and spread of "hate speech". "For us revolutionaries, waiting for the elimination of Israel is like waiting for the arrival of the 1979 Revolution anniversary: Definite and delightful," one cleric wrote in a Tweet he posted on his new account, saying that access to his original account had been restricted. Most of these users have changed their header photos to a screenshot of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i's mantra that "Israel will not exist in 25 years". Thousands of others have commented under different hashtags with regards to the upcoming Arba'een mourning rituals. Some have shared images of the seemingly indecorous conditions the Iranian pilgrims faced as they lined up to exchange their Iranian rials with subsidized foreign cash (Iraqi dinars) on the way to Karbala. "They have knelt down to get their Iraqi dinars from holes dug in the wall. Self-abasement is indeed a Shiite tradition," one user wrote to a relevant video. A hardline cleric posted mobile phone footage of a crowd of pilgrims gathered outside a Bank Melli branch in the city of Najaf, and complained that this had "blighted the Arba'een horizons".