Opinion Magnet on the Bosphorus

This is perhaps what has made the Erdogan experience touch the hearts of so many in Istanbul and around Turkey: he is considered to be the people’s man and the Arab Spring has elevated him further. He is now viewed as a hero.

Asil Sanci mans the till at the sole store that sells English language newspapers in Kasimpasa. He shakes his head at the sorry news on the front pages of the papers — Syria’s death toll has reached 3,500 now. He wonders why the Middle East couldn’t have gone the

Turkish way.

Sanci has seen one despot fall after another in the papers,he has seen the Arab Street rise,he comments on the movement’s leaderless qualities — for him the King of the Arab Street,the one statesmen involved in regional affairs,is Erdogan.

Turkey has invested heavily in the Arab Spring; the country’s involvement in the politics of the region is now at a high and parallels the Ottoman Empire’s heyday. Erdogan and his foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu,and the “Zero-Problems” foreign policy of engaging with the region,have morphed Turkey into a regional player with serious clout. Undeniably,the Arab Spring has helped Erdogan advance his ambitions for global leadership and mediation.

His foreign policy ventures have even won sceptics at home. The popular columnist and author,Mustafa Akyol,salutes the leadership for siding with the popular uprisings and the people on the streets from the early stages of the Arab Spring. Erdogan was one of the first leaders to openly call for Hosni Mubarak’s exit. But Erdogan is not immune from criticism: his slow response and reluctance to participate in the no-fly zone imposed over Libya,his restraint in dealing with the Assad clan in Syria have raised questions over whether economic interests have run Ankara’s policy with Tripoli and Damascus over humanitarian concerns. Questions have also arisen on how Turkey sees itself in the new Middle Eastern order — can Turkey,which has invested heavily in Libya and Syria,deal with the collapse of the old,now crumbling,regional order in the Middle East?

Turkey has been quick to correct its handling of the Syrian issue and the Hatay Camp in Turkey is evidence. Ankara has opened its borders to Syrian refugees and has allowed the opposition — the Syrian National Council — to operate out of the camp along the Turkish-Syrian border. For instance,one of the founding members of the Syrian National Council,Adib Shishakly,applauds Turkey on providing the opposition with a base from which they can operate.

The Arab Spring has also elevated Turkey’s stature for it is Turkey rather than Egypt that stands at the helm of affairs,and it is Turkey rather than Saudi Arabia that has offered direction to a region devoid of leadership.

From the Tunisian street to the Libyan refugee camps,those who have revolted cite the “Turkish model” as one they aim to emulate. It is this model — the democratic development of a predominantly Muslim society in a secular system — that the victorious Ennahda in Tunisia and Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt are attempting to copy.

Erdogan has wisely drawn upon Turkey and the Middle East’s common heritage and history and his tour of Tunisia,Egypt and Libya cemented his desire to play a bigger role in the region.

But the Turkish model will not be an easy one to replicate,explains a minister at the Turkish foreign ministry. Turkey has been undergoing a social revolution against tradition since the 1920s when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk changed the entire make-up of the state. It is since then Turkey has been working towards liberalisation and modernisation. The Islamist and Erdogan story has been years in the making and more likely than not it will be a long journey for the newly revolted countries to emulate the Turkish success story.