The following are excerpts from an article bye Landon Thomas Jr., published in the New York Times on February 5, 2011.
“As Egypt struggles to reinvent itself, many experts in the region say that it might look to Turkey for some valuable lessons. Arriving at a template that effectively integrates Islam, democracy and vibrant economics has been a near-impossible dream for Middle East reformers stretching back decades. No country in the region has come closer to accomplishing this trick, warts and all, than Turkey.
“Turkey is the envy of the Arab world,” said Hugh Pope, project director for the Turkish office of the International Crisis Group. “It has moved to a robust democracy, has a genuinely elected leader who seems to speak for the popular mood, has products that are popular from Afghanistan to Morocco — including dozens of sitcoms dubbed into Arabic that are on TV sets everywhere — and an economy that is worth about half of the whole Arab world put together.”
“President Obama’s first trip as president was to Turkey in April 2009, and he hailed its progress as a Middle East model. (…) Since then, the already wide distance separating these countries has grown. Turkey’s economy and its internationally competitive companies are expanding at a relentless pace. (…) Today, with similarly sized populations of about 80 million, Turkey has an economy that is nearly four times the size of Egypt’s.
“In responding to the Egypt crisis, President Obama telephoned [Turkish] Prime Minister Erdogan twice in six days to discuss the unfolding events, and administration officials say they have been keeping in close contact with their Turkish counterparts at all levels.
“Turkey’s ability to thrive as a predominantly Muslim country that maintains diplomatic relations — though chilly — with Israel is one that American officials would like to see other Muslim nations develop.”
