There was a time in the not-so-distant past when Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu would fly from country to country, actively involved in efforts to settle disputes and reduce tensions in the Middle East. That was his heyday, when all eyes were trained on him as a new and welcome force that would use Turkey’s increasing soft power for the benefit of the region.
Davutoglu’s suggestion that Turkey understood the Middle East better than others because of its history in the region also had some credibility, despite the “neo-Ottomanism” this evoked for some at home and abroad. Meanwhile, Ankara maintained open channels of dialogue with everyone, including Israel, and this bolstered the notion that a Turkey “with one foot in Europe” could be a regional peacemaker.
Its identity as a predominantly Islamic yet secular and democratic country ruled by an elected Islamist government also made Turkey a model for the politically turbulent Middle East. Turkey proved that democracy, and the secular mode of government this requires, is compatible with Islam. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself exhorted the Egyptians, after they toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, not to fear this kind of regime.
“In a secular regime, people are free to be religious or not,” he told Egypt’s private satellite channel Dream TV on Sept. 12, 2011, going on to recommend a secular constitution for Egypt.
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