Turkey and the Arab world

BY IBRAHIM KALIN
TODAY’S ZAMAN - “Istanbul without Tripoli, without Medina, without Damascus… This is the new vision of Turkey,” wrote Falih Rifki Atay, the famous Turkish writer and novelist, in his famous book “Zeytindağı” about a century ago.
Atay was reflecting the zeitgeist of his time, a time when the Ottoman Empire was no more, and whatever was left of it was a burden for the new breed of Turkish nationalists. Even though the Ottoman Empire fought its bitter and costly wars against the Europeans in the 19th and early 20th century, it was the Middle East that was seen to have rung the death knell of the Empire.
Fast forward to the 21st century and we see a very different picture emerging. Turkey no longer considers its history and geography a burden. To the contrary, the Euro-Asian landmass and the Balkan-Caucasus-Middle Eastern nexus is seen as an asset for Turkey. In a multitude of ways, Turkey is rediscovering its forgotten past and forsaken neighborhood. Turkey is extending its foreign policy in multiple directions, but what attracts the most attention is the Middle East. Why?
There are a number of reasons for this. The Middle East is still at the center of world politics. From Iraq and the Iranian nuclear issue to Lebanon and Palestine, no major power can ignore the Middle East. Oil-rich Gulf countries have become major investment and finance centers for many European, American and Asian companies. Because of its close ties with the US, Israel keeps the attention firmly focused on the region. The larger non-Arab Muslim world closely follows the developments in Iraq and Palestine.
It is true that Turkey is actively pursuing better and closer relations with its Arab neighbors. The signing of new trade agreements, opening of free-trade zones, the meetings of high-level strategic councils, lifting of visas, the sizeable increase in tourism and investment, the growing popularity of Turkish soap operas, countless bi-lateral and multi-lateral meetings on the Middle East in Istanbul -- these are the fruits of increased cooperation with the Arab world.
But it is not only Turkey that is pursuing this policy of reconnecting with its neighbors. The Arab world too is opening itself up to Turkey, and the rest of the non-Western world. For much of the history of modernization in Turkey and the Arab world, Turks and Arabs both turned to the West without looking at each other. But this political and cultural investment delivered very little for the Arabs. They neither became political or economic powers nor did they see any progress on the Palestinian issue.
Now, there is a new sentiment. Keeping good relations with the West does not necessarily mean fighting against your non-Western neighbors. On the contrary, as the world becomes more interdependent and multidimensional, everyone can do business with everyone else, and no particular country in the East or the West has any self-proclaimed privilege. It is with this kind of a spirit that the Arab world is rediscovering Turkey.
A case in point is Prime Minister Erdoğan being named man of the year by the CNN Arabic website. Erdoğan’s growing popularity in the Arab world is well-known. What is interesting is the audience of CNN Arabic chose a non-Arab leader as person of the year. The Egyptian author Fahmy Howeidy, who is visiting Turkey as a guest of the Prime Ministry Public Diplomacy Coordinator’s Office, considers this choice to be a reflection of the realities of the new Arab world. Some may rebuff this as mere anti-Westernism. But this is not true. In Erdoğan and Turkey, the Arab public sees not only a strong leadership on the issue of Palestine but also democracy, rule of law, transparency and good governance, which has made Turkey a major economic power in the last eight years. These are the values they want to see in their countries as well.
Turkey and the Arab world are closing the gap that has separated them for over a century because there is a new Turkey and a new Arab world. Both actors see the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century in a new light. But both agree that their shared interests lie in better and closer relations.