Is 'new Turkey' rising after Arab unrest
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Xinhua, September 15, 2011
As Turkey continues to assert its power in the Arab world, it is being met by growing concern in Israel and its Western allies.
Earlier this week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayep Erdogan began a tour of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia, three countries whose former regimes have been swept away in unrest of varied extent.
Experts, academics and diplomats are currently getting to grips with the relatively new phenomenon of Turkey reassuming its historical role in a region it shaped for centuries under the Ottoman empire until World War II.
However, some observers note that Turkey's sudden thrust into the international spotlight and playing the "big brother" in the region is more a matter of timing than a conscious change of foreign policy.
For its part, the Israeli government is condemning Ankara for pursuing a neo-Ottomanist foreign policy in the Middle East. This marks a departure from the "zero-problems-with-neighbors" policy of Turkish Foreign Minister, and arguably Erdogan's right-hand man, Ahmet Davutoglu. In the past, Turkey's more conservative and compliant stance in international affairs meant it sometimes acted against national interests.
For example, Turkey supported the war in Iraq in 2003 under pressure from the U.S. despite fierce opposition from conservative voters within the country. Erdogan's challenge was trying to assert Turkey's own role as a dominant player in the region, while appeasing the West not in the least to counter the European Union's (EU) unspoken rejection of Turkey as a full member.
"Turkey has always used its foreign policy toward the Arab world as a business card to the European Union, but it failed," said Dorothee Schmid, researcher at the Paris-based policy institute IFRI.
Despite Turkey having good relations -- politically and economically -- with the fallen regimes in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, it was swift to adapt to the region's new political landscape.
Commentators point out that the new rulers in the three countries are keen to associate themselves with Turkey given its reputation as a democratic, stable and moderate Islamic nation. Its ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is said to be an "ideological lighthouse", having been credited with proving that democracy and Islam can not only coexist but also prosper.
Let's not forget economics. "With business between Ankara and Arab countries accounting for nearly 20 percent of Turkish GDP, Turkey wants to ensure good relations not only for diplomacy but also for trade purposes," added Schmid.
