Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
Reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to mediate between Israel and Syria demonstrate his government’s potential as a troubleshooter in the perennially unstable Middle East. … The possibilities opened up by Turkey’s emerging new status should not be lost on Lebanese politicians—starting with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. No mediator has yet been identified that has been able to win the trust of both sides in Lebanon’s internal power struggle, and nor has any come forward with the capacity to play a similar role in correcting Beirut’s complicated relationship with Damascus.
The Turks might be burdened with some baggage collected during 400 years of Ottoman rule in this part of the world, but that era is ancient history. … Even on this score, Ankara might be uniquely qualified by dint of its acceptability to key players all around. From Washington and Tehran to Paris and Damascus, Turkey is widely regarded as a friend and ally. Each of these might actually see its own influence diminished by a successful Turkish intervention in Lebanon, but none would face any longer the prospect of being shut out altogether.
The Turks have an interest in Lebanon, but it is one shared by all Lebanese rather than a particular party or sect: They want stability in this country so that it and the rest of the region can be more reliable partners as Turkey carries out the social, economic and legal transformations required to qualify for accession to the European Union—and fuller membership in the 21st century. Many of the changes in question are very similar, incidentally, to those that Lebanon and other countries in the Islamic world need to make. Access the full article>>
