Bugün: “Assad’s think tank attacked,” headlined the major story reporting on a massive bombing that struck at the heart of Syria’s security establishment, killing President Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law, a high-ranking government official, and the Syrian defense minister. The terrorist bomb, which went off at a national security building in Damascus on Wednesday during a meeting of ministers and security officials, wounded several people, including the interior minister. Following the bombing, opposition groups called on the Syrian people to further resist Assad’s regime. Syrians flocked to the streets to celebrate the bombing.

Taraf: “[Discourse of] Great Turkey a lie,” read the headline of a front page story quoting Voice of the People Party (HAS Party) Deputy Chairman Mehmet Bekaroğlu, who opposed the prospect of merging the HAS Party with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which was recently suggested by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Saying that the HAS Party was a source of hope for those who are unhappy with the AK Party’s policies, the deputy chairman said: “Why would we merge with the AK Party, which ruined everything in the Roboski [the Kurdish name for Uludere] incident and which is becoming more and more statist? The discourse of ‘We are going to establish a great Turkey together’ is nothing but a lie.”

Star: “We are not in opposition over the Syrian crisis,” said a page one story reporting on a meeting between Prime Minister Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. Speaking after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting in Moscow, Erdoğan said they have no disagreements over the necessity of stability in Syria as well as in the region. Erdoğan said they discussed a possible transitional government in Syria as part of the Geneva peace plan, agreed at a meeting of foreign ministers in Geneva last month.