‘World envies Turk leader’

‘Arabs seek to emulate Erdogan’

“THE President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan is phenomenal and many Arabs are currently looking forward and dreaming of becoming his replica in terms of managing the affairs of their respective countries,” columnist Mohammad Al-Jalahmah wrote for Al-Anba daily.

“This is also applicable to those who have different attitudes and often criticize him. In spite of the above, even these people want a leader who fit the specifications of President Erdogan, and why not?

“As a matter of fact, the Turkish President has built a modern state. He has curbed the hand of the Turkish army, which over the past half a century was involved in four military coups.

“Not just that, Erdogan has accomplished much at the political and economic levels to bring democracy to his country, an example that should be followed by the Arabs, Muslims and the Europeans.

“In other words, he has built the state of law, contained despotism and given boost to human rights particularly the minorities and given them the freedom of expression to display their cultural identity within the state.

“Apart from the above, Erdogan has lifted some of the prohibitions that were imposed earlier by the Turkish secular regime and related to the Islamic traditions and the religious discourse. He also allowed the Islamic veil to spread again and included the religious curricula in the schools syllabus.

“Furthermore, Erdogan has proved that he is an impartial leader, with political experience, sincere to his country, respects his people, and not involved in looting the wealth of his country as some other leaders have done in the past. Throughout the past years, he proved that he is a man who puts the interests of his country and his people above any other consideration.

“Therefore, he had made a tangible and remarkable success both at the economic and political levels, in addition to putting Turkey in a distinguished international position under his leadership.

“On the economic level, Turkey has been able to make great achievements. His country has become the preferred destination for the majority of the world’s tourists. A majority of the Gulf peoples have preferred Turkey as a secure tourist country of unique style.

“This has not come from a vacuum, but rather from the interest of the tourism industry. The number of airports increased from 26 to 50 and Istanbul is ranked 27th in the world in terms of the most influential cities.

“Not only that, Erdogan has also adopted ambitious economic plans because of which the annual per capita income has risen from $3,500 in 2002 to $17,468 according to the 2013 Turkish economic program for 2013.

“With regard to the Turkish exports, these are in the region of $250 billion and the unemployment percentage in the country has been reduced from 38 percent to just two percent. Likewise, the Gross National Production (GNP), has increased from 230 billion in 2002 to $820 billion in 2013.

“The belief of the Turkish President in education and scientific research as the nerve of the developed nations made it an important sector. He opened more than 125 universities in Turkey, putting Turkey in the sixth position at the world level.

“In 2016, the intelligence of some countries saw the Turkish president as a threat to them. They carried out and planned the coup, but they failed because the Turkish people are not stupid like some other people.

“Anyway, forthcoming days shall prove that the Turkish president will win any election battle in spite of the many attempts that have been exerted by many parties and the Islamic mercenaries to undermine his image and reputation.”

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Al-Jalahmah

“King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him said in a speech during the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. ‘Kuwait will return (will be liberated) otherwise Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will go together. The dignity of Kuwait has become the dignity of Saudi Arabia’,” columnist Bader Al-Asfar wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“Saudi Arabia, realistically and historically, is our social, cultural, geographic, political and strategic depth. Those who do not recognize this fact do not know what Saudi Arabia means to Kuwait and does not know where Kuwait is located on the map of the world.

“To the GCC and the Muslim nation the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents a big neighbor and a strong supporter, after Almighty God, not only for the State of Kuwait.

“And because the Kingdom is big, the tasks and responsibilities shouldered by it, are bigger, because it is the fate of the elders to shoulder the bigger part of responsibility in terms of protecting the security of its nations.

“The Kingdom is the safety valve for stability for both the Gulf and Middle East regions. Hence any shock that befalls Saudi Arabia will affect the Middle East and the entire world.

“We are not here to talk about the Saudi attitude for supporting us during the former defunct Iraqi regime which occupied the State of Kuwait, because if we write volumes in this connection, then we shall not give the Kingdom its complete right in this connection.

“In this connection, we say it is enough for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as rulers and people that they have endured the bigger and basic burden to mobilize the different states of the world to liberate of the State of Kuwait from the occupation.

“Not just that it was the glory for the Kingdom to lead the international community to adopt the issue of liberation of the State of Kuwait, the protection of its independence and the return of its complete legitimacy.

“Today the Kingdom faces many conspiracies targeting its security, stability and the unity of its territories, as such and for the sake of deterring the above it is currently fighting along more than one front.

“Saudi Arabia, the rulers and the people, are enough to bear the greatest and decisive burden in mobilizing the countries of the world to liberate Kuwait from occupation. It is enough to be proud that it led the international community to adopt The liberation of Kuwait and the protection of its independence and the restoration of its legitimacy are complete and undiminished.

“It is the Kingdom which is currently fighting terrorism inside and outside. At the moment it is leading the Arab coalition to liberate the sisterly country of Yemen from the Iranian agents who have rebelled against the legitimate regime with support from Tehran.

“With regard to the Palestinian cause, this was always present at the top of all of the Saudi agendas. This cause was never absent from the Saudi agenda even for a single day. It is the Kingdom, which propounded the Arab initiative for peace based on the establishment of two states in Palestine (one for the Israelis and one for the Palestinians).

“This initiative was actually also endorsed by the Arab League in consensus, as such nobody can cast any doubt on the Saudi attitudes in terms of supporting the Arabs and Muslims, except those who are involved in conspiring against it and those striving to achieve their own purposes who are well-known to us.”

“The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, through its specialized sectors, including the Consumer Protection Department, is far from being able to stand up to the situation of rising prices to the extent the greediness of some traders has become the order of the day and the exception is that the ministry moves from time to time in a shy and limited manner,” columnist Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily.

“This is violation of the rule which obliges every trader to respect the laws and not raise prices without reference to the ministry and coordination with them, but until today the traders have been raising prices while the Ministry of Commerce is doing nothing about it.

“The task of the ministry was to monitor prices through the implementation of an organizational plan, and the formation of three teams of 30 inspectors distributed in all six governorates to follow up the commitment of traders that they remain faithful to defined prices during the Eid.

“Such decisions need to be adopted throughout the year but it lacks many things, including the lack of transparency in terms of the number of violations recorded by the sector in the ministry against traders and violators.

“Today, it is necessary to move according to an organized strategic plan rather than seasonal movements. The greed of traders is not limited to a particular season, but rather they ‘cheat’ throughout the year.

“The strategic plan for price control must include extensive information campaigns throughout the year, including a reminder of all the articles of the law and punishments for anyone who asks to raise prices in excess otherwise the file of hike in prices will remain the same.”

“We were recently surprised by the emergence of advertisements that used official slogans of Kuwait University and various colleges, and were aimed at welcoming new students on the basis of their family, tribe, and sectarian affiliations. These advertisements also included names of a number of male and female students who volunteered to serve the new students,” Dr Hayla Hamad Al-Mukaimi wrote for Al-Nahar daily.

“However, the university administration was quick to criticize such an irresponsible behavior and refer those responsible for it for investigations.

“Nevertheless, the problem is not related to the criticism or the investigation. It is important to know who managed to achieve such social disintegration and how. Will this affect the state’s mission, which is already facing real challenges due to the regional circumstances?

“In the past, the race for new students involved electoral lists and the students’ union, which are still dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood Group. The other lists – independent, democratic or others — seek to dominate some colleges.

“The students’ union and the students’ elections are a global phenomenon prevalent in many democratic countries. The students’ unions have been directly influencing the political situation in many countries which have experienced revolutions and coups, or active civil movement such as France in the 1960s and the direct influence of students on the government and the political strife at that time. The unions were so strong that there was a representative of the students in all scientific departments. However, the advantage of that movement in democratic countries is that things can be controlled and returned to normal because of commitment to the rule of law. Problems occur when such a commitment is lacking.”

“The world celebrated World No Tobacco Day by holding several events that aim at highlighting the negative aspects of the habit which has led to more than five million deaths per year. I will not talk much about its harmful effects as they are known to all and even recognized by the tobacco producers, but I will try to focus on the Australian experience in its fight against the habit of smoking, and how to benefit from it,” Dr Abdullah Behbehani wrote for Al-Qabas daily.

“The Australians succeeded in reducing the number of smokers among adults from 50 percent after World War II to less than 13 percent in 2011, as per studies conducted by the Australian Health Institute. This was a significant decline at a time when many countries witnessed remarkable increase in the rate of smokers.

“Australia is the first country in the world to ban tobacco companies from using brands. It also forced them to use dark oil color on cigarette packs along with disgusting images showing the effects of smoking which make people, especially the youth, think thousand times before purchasing cigarettes.

“In addition, the country banned smoking in locations surrounding stadiums, taxi stands, and bus stations, as well as indoors and in cars if there are children present. Violators were imposed with strict penalties.

“The cost of a pack of cigarette in Australia is the highest in the world — KD 9. The government increases tobacco tax on an annual basis and offers financial support for anti-smoking campaigns.”

“The fake certificates that have invaded the country in recent times is like a cancer that destroys everything in the country and not only the educational sector, although its impact is catastrophic in the field of education, and with the issuance of a judicial ruling which is considered the first of its kind in this regard, calls for opening the file wide,” columnist Zayed Al-Zaid wrote for Annahar daily.

“According to a newspaper report which was published two days ago the Criminal Court has sentenced to seven years imprisonment an ‘educational personality’ for forging his degree seven years ago.

“The court ruling has also obliged the defendant to pay back to the state 9,855 dinars and fined him 19,177 dinars and ordered the confiscation of fake documents. The ruling will be a deterrent to anyone who thinks of tampering or forging the documents.

“The truth is that this ruling appears to be a ‘good omen’ in this serious and destructive case. The issues of forging certificates, which have been raised for years and dealt with by more than one side, either through the investigation committees or by referring them to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, should serve as a lesson to those who use this method to ‘embezzle’ public money with right.

“However, the government bears full responsibility for the situation in this case, which is unreasonable and unacceptable that the government employs a person with a fake education certificate.”

— Compiled by Zaki Taleb