“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition,” he said, embellishing his speech with messages of tolerance, mutual understanding, respect for one another, peace and the need to put aside prejudices. Although there are some skeptics, Obama's messages have been met with appreciation in Turkey, raising expectations about a better world if the president acts in line with his remarks.“The president of the United States extended an olive branch to the Muslim world and called for democracy in his speech in Cairo, which could be termed historic. While he closed the era of clashes of wars belonging to the Bush era, he opened the doors of dialogue and consensus. This is a new and good beginning,” comments Milliyet's Hasan Cemal. He thinks if what Obama mentioned in his speech can come true, mankind will begin to lead a more peaceful life and a period of peace and stability will begin in the Islamic world, with Turkey benefiting most from all this.
Although Yeni Şafak's İbrahim Karagül welcomes the messages Obama delivered in Cairo, he retains some skepticism about the lofty statements. Karagül admits that no Muslim leader would dare mention the matters Obama touched upon in his speech. “America's tattered image has changed for the better. Our souls were bolstered; we became happy; we applauded him and wanted to believe in him. But did we believe him and were we convinced? We only wanted to believe, that's it,” says Karagül. He says, as Muslims, we will preserve our good will in the sincerity of Obama's remarks; we will welcome and support the realization of even one of the dozens of things he spoke of. However, Karagül underlines that Muslims will not be so naïve as to believe everything Obama said. “We are not gullible, in that we will not be surprised when in due time we see what Obama meant by his remarks,” he writes.
Star's Mehmet Altan thinks Obama's Cairo speech has once again proven that he is determined to integrate the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world into the globalization process. Referring to the reactions of Cairo's Muslims, who only applauded Obama's praise of Islam but fell short of appreciating the general truths and Obama's calls for change in the Islamic world, Altan says this gives an idea of the profile of Muslims. He believes adopting the principle of “telling the truth” every time, as stated by Obama while quoting from the Quran, will be key to solving problems. “Overcoming all challenges, from the status of women in society to insufficient technology, will only be possible through the adoption of this principle. When this is done, hypocrisy will end and problems will be out in the open for all to see,” suggests Altan.
With his Cairo speech, Obama strengthened the image that his term will be very different from those of his predecessors, says Fehmi Koru, another Yeni Şafak columnist. He thinks if Obama makes concrete efforts to form a just world in line with the messages he delivered in Cairo, the Muslim world will not be late in giving him the positive response he has been waiting for.
