Turkey’s doctrine of zero problems with neighbors translated into a successful overarching policy allowing the country to protect its influence in every corner of the larger Middle East.

The politico-ideological model, the strategic balancer, the key regional agenda influencer, the pragmatic power, were all roles fulfilled by the moderate Islamist, neo-Ottomanist Turkey: a role that gained more influence in the last two years, surfing on the strong waves of the "Arab Spring" and the Islamist summer it announced. But today, Turkey is besieged with problems at home and in the region.

First, despite some controlled jealousies between the two ideological brothers, the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in Egypt resulted in both a strategic and an ideological blow to Turkey. These jealousies of yesterday reflected the coming competition between two power centers of Sunnism, as well as the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's uneasiness with Turkish coexistence, as underlined by Erdogan, between Islamism and a secular state.

Egypt, a core Arab country, was considered a main pillar in Turkey’s regional strategy to project both its Islamist ideology and its political influence. Driven by both ideology and interests, Turkey has reacted in strong language by campaigning in Europe, in particular, against what it considers a usurper regime in order to try to bring back the elected one to power. It wanted to enact collective sanctions and boycott the new regime — something that reflects an overreaction to the tremendous loss it suffered. It also reflected the fear that an Islamist regime could be brought down by a soft coup, responding to a strong and wide mass mobilization. It fears that this could be emulated elsewhere, particularly considering  the bitterness and concerns raised by the Taksim Square uprising.