Arab academics: Turks’ return to Middle East anticipated development

    “There is nothing unusual about this return. Turkey has economic interests in the area. Arab countries have natural resources, oil and gas, which are needed by Turkey,” said Mustafa al-Labbad, director of the Cairo-based Al Sharq Center for Regional and Strategic Studies. Arabs are not expecting Turkey to be yet another Arab country; Arabs expect Turkey to deliver its democratic values, he noted, because it is a modernizing power and a Western-oriented country.

Academics from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Morocco and Lebanon at the Turkish-Arab Forum on June 14 agreed that there is a power vacuum in the Middle East, and somebody has to fill it.

“In the Middle East, there are three forces that can fill it: Turkey, Israel and Iran. Which one would I choose? Turkey, of course,” said al-Labbad, adding that Turkey’s governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is a party of the people that has been democratically elected and has representatives of groups other than Sunnis.

“In Egypt, all of the Muslim Brothers are Sunni Muslims. The AK Party does not use the Quran in demonstrations to press for a cause but the Muslim Brothers do,” he said.

Jawad Al-Hamad of the Middle East Studies Center in Jordan said that Turkey is a leader in the region and that this is reinforced by its peaceful stance.

“Turkey’s zero problems with neighbors policy is based on a philosophy of having peaceful relations with the countries in the region. Its goal is cooperation,” he said.

One recent example of this cooperation was the declaration between Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria signed on the sidelines of a June 9-10 Turkish-Arab business forum meeting in İstanbul. They expressed the determination to boost their strategic partnership with an eye to achieving economic integration and declared they would establish a high-level cooperation council and set up a free trade and free movement zone.

According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, Turkey has the biggest economy among the four countries with an expected GDP of $932.2 billion for 2010, estimating that the country will have the 16th largest economy in the world. According to figures from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), the country’s authority on statistics, Turkey runs a trade surplus against the other three countries.

Since the AK Party came to power in 2002, Turkish exports to its Muslim neighbors have increased sharply, though non-fuel imports from them are small. Turkey’s trade balance with all Middle Eastern countries, apart from Iran and Qatar, is positive.

Some commentators say Turkey is trying to revive historic ties with the dominions of the former Ottoman Empire, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke warmly of Turkey’s bonds with the Arab world.

“A Turk cannot live without an Arab. An Arab is the Turk’s left eye, his right eye,” Erdoğan said as he also spoke of “secret efforts” by some European countries to slow Turkey’s bid for membership of the European Union.

Erdoğan spoke approvingly regarding ties with neighboring Syria, against which Turkey almost went to war 10 years ago.

“Now these two countries are like brothers in the same family, they come and go and visit each other,” he said.

Damascus has been one of Turkey’s strongest supporters in the latest confrontation with Israel, whose naval commandos attacked a flotilla on May 31 led by a Turkish humanitarian organization carrying aid to the Palestinians of Gaza with the aim of breaking Israel’s blockade of the strip.

As a consequence, Turkey is now reconsidering its defense cooperation ties with Israel.

On the economic front, Turkey seems to be both a partner and a model to the development of the private sector in the region as noted by analysts.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkey was determined to boost economic cooperation with the Arab world to the highest possible level. “We want a vehicle to leave from Turkey and reach Morocco without stopping at any border gates,” he recently said.

But is this part of a Turkish strategy trying to return to its Ottoman past, which is not so highly regarded by Arabs?

Nelly Hana, who specializes in Ottoman history at the American University in Egypt, said there are differing political currents regarding this issue.

“There are many views, not one. Some people do not like the idea of the ‘new Ottomans.’ When there are cultural activities organized by Turkish people in the Middle East, they say that the new Ottomans are coming back. But some other people are very happy, and they say this is politically good, or some people say this is good for the Islamic movement. There are different opinions,” she told Sunday’s Zaman at the academics’ Turkish-Arab forum.

She noted that the Egyptian Ministry of Culture has had projects with the İstanbul-based International Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA).

“They have been criticized by some people, but that does not mean the Ministry of Culture supports ‘new Ottomanism.’ That shows that they are taking an objective stance and cooperate in some cultural projects with Turks,” Hana added.