Turkish delight

The much-hyped meeting between Pakistan President Asif Zardari and chief opponent Nawaz Sharif at a reception for the visiting Turkish PM was the talk of the Pakistani press. As expected, the dinner meeting began with a bang but ended with a whimper. On October 26, The News viewed: “Monday’s meeting between Nawaz Sharif and President Zardari is expected to end all political and constitutional differences between the two political giants for the time being by focusing on terrorism...” Daily Times disagreed: “However, they do not foresee any breakthrough... But at the same time, they feared increased tensions between the two major political parties will bring the country to the confrontational politics of the 1980s and ‘90s, which can be harmful for the country in the given security and law and order situation.”

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on his fourth visit to Muzzafarabad, was reported by Dawn on October 27 as saying: “Turkey will continue to support Kashmiri brethren... Prime Minister Gilani highlighted commonalities in approach on regional issues, urged Turkey to support Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir and said it was important to resolve the issue for regional peace. Reiterating Pakistan’s desire to maintain friendly ties with all its neighbours, he said: ‘the sacrifices and just stand of Kashmiris will bear fruit.’ “

Unclaimed terror

On October 29, Dawn reported on the bloodbath in Peshawar: “An intelligence official blamed terrorists based in Darra Adamkhel for the attack. ‘We intercepted a call last week in which militants were talking about a ‘heart-rending’ attack in Peshawar...’ A shopkeeper said threats had been received with militants demanding that women be forbidden from going to the market. The blast took place in Meena Bazaar and Kochi Bazaar frequented by women...” However, a counterstory in The News was startling: “The Taliban and al-Qaeda have denied involvement in the Peshawar bomb blast and said they do not explode bombs in bazaars and mosques... According to al-Qaeda sources, the elements, who want to defame jihad and refugees, are behind the blast... The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in an email sent to the media also condemned the blast and denied its involvement...”

... contd.