1. Seek4media:
Turkey,
The
New
Strongman
of
Europe
and
Diplomatic
Power
in
the
Middle
East
Impervious
to
pressure,
blind
to
the
catastrophe
unfolding
across
his
country,
President
Assad
of
Syria
appears
to
have
lost
touch
even
with
the
political
realities
of
the
Middle
East.
To
ignore
criticism
from
the
West
and
brush
aside
calls
for
change
from
anxious
Arab
neighbours
is
foolish.
But
to
send
his
troops
out
on
a
killing
spree
even
as
the
Turkish
Foreign
Minister
is
warning
him
of
Ankara's
growing
anger
at
the
bloodshed
across
the
border
endangers
the
very
survival
of
his
repressive
regime.
Turkey
is
often
underestimated
by
its
Western
allies,
with
long
memories
of
lingering
Ottoman
sickness
and
more
recent
coups,
instability
and
hyperinflation.
Turkey
today
is
a
regional
giant.
A
nation
of
74
million
people,
with
a
yearly
growth
rate
of
9
per
cent,
Turkey
is
now
the
world's
sixteenth
largest
economy,
a
country
brimming
with
foreign
investment,
assertive
self-­‐confidence
and
international
ambition.
Recep
Tayyip
Erdogan,
recently
re-­‐elected
for
the
third
time
with
more
than
50
per
cent
of
the
vote,
has
now
served
longer
as
Prime
Minister
than
any
Turkish
leader
since
Kemal
Atatürk.
While
pursuing
free-­‐market
policies
and
the
long
quest
for
European
Union
membership,
his
Islamist
ideology
has
refocused
Turkey's
interest,
for
almost
the
first
time
in
90
years,
on
the
Ottomans'
former
empire
in
the
Arab
south.
Turkey
is
again
a
formidable
regional
player,
and
one
that
is
increasingly
looked
up
to
by
Arabs
envious
of
its
success.
One
of
Mr
Erdogan's
early
achievements
was
to
improve
Turkey's
poor
ties
with
Syria,
a
relationship
blighted
by
an
ancient
border
quarrel
as
well
as
Syria's
opportunistic
shelter
given
to
Abdullah
Öcalan,
the
PKK
terrorist
leader.
Turkey
has
no
qualms
about
using
its
large
army
to
enforce
its
regional
interests
as
it
has
from
time
to
time
in
northern
Iraq
and
the
massing
of
troops
on
the
Syrian
border
was
enough
to
have
Mr
Öcalan
swiftly
expelled.

2. Trade,
traffic
and
friendship
followed:
Syria
became
increasingly
dependent
on
its
powerful
neighbour
for
its
own
modest
development.
Mr
Erdogan's
high
standing
in
both
East
and
West
is
largely
because
of
his
skill
at
finding
a
compatibility
between
democracy
and
moderate
Islamism.
The
Syrian
uprising
threatens
Turkey
in
two
ways:
it
sent
waves
of
refugees
across
the
border,
and
it
is
likely
to
bolster
the
Muslim
Brotherhood
and
other
radical
Islamist
elements
that
have
little
interest
in
the
kind
of
Muslim
democracy
that
Mr
Erdogan
espouses.
He
met
Mr
Assad
several
times,
warning
him
that
talk
about
reform
meant
little;
what
was
needed
was
reform.
That
message
has
been
rebuffed
with
a
resort
to
presidential
clichés
about
terrorist
gangs
that
fools
no
one
and
insults
Mr
Erdogan,
a
prickly
man
who
has
already
proved
in
his
confrontation
with
the
Turkish
military
that
it
is
unwise
to
underestimate
his
acumen
and
ambition.
Turkey
has
now
given
Damascus
a
two-­‐week
deadline
to
halt
the
killing
machine.
The
alternative
is
not
spelt
out.
But
it
is
clear:
a
Turkish
military
incursion,
to
"protect
Turkish
interests".
It
would
be
applauded
by
the
West
unable
to
do
much
about
Mr
Assad
and
perhaps
even
by
Syria's
neighbours.
And
with
Syrian
troops
already
hurrying
to
the
border,
there
is
no
doubt
who
would
win:
the
Syrian
opposition
and
the
towns
now
under
fire.
President
Obama
is
poised
to
call
for
Mr
Assad's
removal.
But
only
the
Turks
could
enforce
it.
Ankara
now
speaks
from
a
position
of
power.
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