Thought

The centrist Potami party ridiculed the relevant education minister on Friday after his decision to abolish ? three English-language undergraduate programs in three tertiary schools, calling him "Kim Jong Baltas".

?[He was the man who] exerted effective control over the fracturing state.

?[He had an] attraction to absolutism.

?[Under his rule he used] the secret police to silence dissent.

?[He had a] worsening paranoia about perceived threats to his personal power and his life.

Estonia's ruling center-right Reform Party won the most votes in Sunday's general elections.

Prime Minister Taavi Roivas announced on the ETV public television station that the Reform Party had won the 2015 parliamentary elections.

Nine states including Bulgaria will represent the EU at a summit on countering terrorism, to be held in Washington, D.C. this week.

The story in our newspaper recently stated that a recent survey about the lifestyle and attitudes of Turkish people had revealed "intriguing results." The poll was conducted by the Ipsos KMG Research and Consultancy Company based on interviews with almost 16,000 people across Turkey, titled ?Guide to Understanding Turkey.?

Here are some of the ?intriguing? results:

By Nikos Konstandaras

The problem is that we are not all Charlie. The very declaration that we are ? our need to identify with the victims of a terrible crime, as if we can protect them by exposing our own breasts to the assassins? bullets ? is based on the understanding that others do not share the same concern.

A group calling itself "Anarchist Attack Consortium" has claimed responsibility for a failed bombing attack against a bank in the early hours of December 10 in the northern Athenian suburb of Halandri.

The Turkish government is pondering its potential contribution to the global fight against jihadists

There was a time when the Greek justice system was shackled to the whims of political parties as appointments and often decisions were dictated by central party headquarters.

Today, the judiciary may have rid itself of this bane but it is still at risk of becoming politicized as judges are increasingly sensitive to the impulses of the public mind and the overall political atmosphere.

BRUSSELS - There are no common mechanisms to control the quality of academic titles in the EU, as the matter is left to individual universities and member states, the European Commission (EC) says.

There is no central commission, but only EC recommendations within the Bologna process, EC Directorate General for Education and Culture spokesperson Dennis Abbott told Tanjug.