DENMARK

DENMARK

Politiken, Copenhagen, July 30: The Constitutional Court in Turkey is expected to pass a judgment already this week, and the risk that it will include dissolving the government party AKP and thus a breach of the parliamentarian majority that won a landslide victory as late as in February, is eminent.

The base is thin: a claim that the government will “Islamify” the country with a law that will remove the scarf ban on Turkish university campuses is the sole documentation.

What is crucial is that a ban against a political party can only be justified if there is an eminent threat against the democratic system.

Existing threat

In so far as the threat exists in Turkey, this threat doesn’t come from the moderate, pro-European reform government but rather from the circles behind the court case.

Considering the seriousness of the situation, the democratic world, headed by Europe, should be standing on the other end to condemn this assault on democracy.

Although the European Commission has expressed its concerns and most observers see that the Constitutional Court ruling almost certainly will be condemned by the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, the silence is deafening.

The disastrous signal which would result in the removal of a democratically elected government, is striking, and goes far beyond Turkey’s borders.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Khaleej Times, Dubai, July 30: There’s more bad news from Iraq. A new phenomenon of female suicide bombers has added itself to the long list of woes of the Middle East country. Three female suicide bombers killed more than 60 people in triple devastating attacks across Iraq.

The bombers targeted a crowd of Shia devotees and a protest rally in Kirkuk in the north. These attacks have shaken the Iraqi government and the coalition that had begun to cautiously celebrate relative improvement in security situation in recent times.

Fragile peace

But coming as it does after weeks and months of relative peace in Iraq, the female suicide bombing has left everyone stunned reminding them of the extremely fragile nature of peace. It is being suggested that since the massive influx of foreign fighters has of late been reduced to a trickle, thanks to increased vigil and crackdown by security forces and cooperation of Iraq’s neighbors of course, the insurgents are increasingly turning to women as their weapon of choice.

That said, the new phenomenon must come as a wake-up call to Iraq’s leaders. But, instead of cracking down on the families of the female bombers, the Iraqi government and the US-led coalition must take a serious look at why women are taking to these desperate measures.