Several panels met on a variety of topics, but the main theme was the results of the Arab Spring. Participants discussed the recent events in order to try to predict the shape of things to come. However, the panelists were generally not able to talk about the future as they kept talking about the past. This proves how great the need is for the Middle East to face its past; however, it doesn't tell us if the people in this region are indeed ready to face every aspect of their history.
We observed many of the participants explain the developments in the region by comparing them with Turkey's history or its recent evolution. One of the recurrent debates was whether or not Turkey can be considered a model for the region. The very existence of such a debate is important in itself, because mentioning Turkey in every conversation is an implicit way of admitting the dimensions of this country's regional influence.
Participants' analyzes of the international system have shown that most intellectuals in the region believe there is a structural dichotomy in the world. One part of this dichotomy is the West. This West comprises the US, which has occupied Iraq, and the ex-colonialist European powers. According to the panelists, these Westerners' only concerns are their own interests.These analyzes seem not to give enough importance to the role China and Russia play in the Middle East or in world affairs in general.
From this perspective, the other side of this dichotomy is the victimized Middle East, which is mainly described as Arab and Muslim. Nonetheless, this world perception has a major problem: locating Turkey in this picture. Those who consider Turkey part of the Western world see in us a country that works for Western interests, tries to impose its own model on the Middle East and even dreams of resuscitating the Ottoman Empire. When they talk about the Turkish model, they often want to define it as a quasi-democracy that couldn't reach Western standards but is far more developed, both economically and politically, than other Muslim countries.
On the contrary, those who believe that Turkey is part of the Eastern world expect us to refuse the establishment of a NATO missile shield in our territory, or to keep creating events that recall the “one-minute” incident in Davos in 2009 when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan walked off a stage in a protest of the Israeli president's defense of an offensive staged on Gaza. In other words, they want Turkey to challenge the West on every occasion and expect Turkey to pick its side, as they believe there are only two opposing sides to be picked.
This is of course what the participants of this particular conference were thinking about our world. Perhaps the youth who were on the forefront of the popular movements in the Middle East are more aware of global balances than the panelists and read the international system differently. We all know that Turkey, all through history, has belonged in both worlds at the same time. Today is no different. Moreover, the West is not a monolithic bloc; when it comes to their own interests, the EU or the US doesn't hesitate to confront the other. Besides, not everyone is Arab in the Middle East and not all Arabs are Muslim.
Turkey tries to establish a regional policy by taking into consideration all aspects of global and regional balances despite a number of foreign actors' efforts to squeeze Turkey into one of these boxes.
