Eurotopics.net

Police in Istanbul have used tear gas and heavy vehicles against striking construction workers at the site of the city's new airport. Around 400 protesters were arrested. The workers have long complained about the labour conditions on social media, including poor accommodation and problems with wage payments. The strike has divided Turkey's media.

The interview with the two men accused by London of carrying out the Skripal poisoning which was broadcast by the pro-Kremlin TV station Russia Today is still making waves. Some commentators find the men's claim that they visited Salisbury simply as tourists outrageous. Others note that even the editor-in-chief of Russia Today clearly wasn't willing to play the fool.

The EU Parliament has voted by the required two-thirds majority in favour of opening a punishment procedure against Hungary for breaching the EU's core principles. The member states must now decide which sanctions to impose. Some commentators doubt that the EU really can sanction Hungary. Others believe that ultimately the bloc benefits from the whole affair.

The two men accused by Britain of carrying out the Skripal poisoning have given an interview to the pro-Kremlin TV station Russia Today. They were in Salisbury as tourists, they claimed, and had nothing to with the poison attack. For some commentators the interview was just a bad joke. Others empathise with the accused.

In the lira crisis the Turkish central bank in Ankara raised the interest rate from 17.75 percent to 24 percent on Thursday - a more drastic increase than experts had expected. Shortly before this Erdoğan had once again called for interest rates to be lowered and criticised the central bank. Commentators ask how independent the bank really is, and whether it will be able to continue defying the Turkish president in the long term.