Taraf: “The big boy of politics,” read the headline of the daily's lead story yesterday, which reported that Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ had spoken like a politician again. Visiting a military outpost in the Sınırtepe neighborhood in the southeastern province of Mardin on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr over the weekend, Başbuğ spoke on political matters after wishing the soldiers a happy eid. “The public in the region suffered much over the years. The real problem in Turkey is the country getting rid of politics and terror masters,” he said. Indicating that no success can be reached through the use of weapons, Başbuğ said the state is the only authority in the country with the legitimate right to use power, calling on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to lay down its weapons. Yeni Şafak: In its main story yesterday, the daily quoted remarks from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who went to the US on Sunday to attend the UN General Assembly and G-20 summit. Before his departure for the US, Erdoğan said the government's democratic initiative to solve the Kurdish problem was not only a project of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) but a national unity project. Erdoğan said Turkey's other problems, such as unemployment, the Alevi issue, minority problems and dialogue with Armenia, will be handled as part of this project. “By decreasing problematic issues to the lowest levels, by presenting our national unity project in a good way, we will work to strengthen our national unity,” Erdoğan said.
Habertürk: Mustafa Öz, the father of Mehmet Öz, a famous Turkish-American cardiothoracic surgeon, author and talk show host, said his son wants to be a governor either in New York or in New Jersey. “He has begun to work to realize this,” said father Öz, noting that his son may even run for the US presidency one day. Since Mehmet Öz was born in the United States, he has the right to run for the presidency, the daily said.
