By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
The Associated Press
Sunday, February 20, 2011; 12:01 AM
ISTANBUL, Turkey — As Egypt erupted a few weeks ago, one fellow Muslim country insistently urged President Hosni Mubarak to respond to popular demands. That country was Turkey.
The call was a sign of Turkey’s growing confidence and stature in the Middle East and beyond. Hobbled by economic and political chaos just a decade ago, Turkey is increasingly taking on the role of regional model, mediator and leader, with a solid economy and an evolving democracy. It has sought to balance many of the forces that shape, and shake, the region: The East and the West, Israel and Iran, religion and secularism.
As elections approach in June, results of a new Associated Press-GfK poll suggest that Turkey’s government will pursue a path of relative pragmatism, despite fears of the influence of Islam on the state.
Turkey still aspires to join the European Union, but that once-strong vision appears to have faded. The poll shows that 52 percent of respondents want Turkey to stay in NATO, and 50 percent want to join the European Union. Yet 42 percent have an unfavorable view of the EU, reflecting frustration with a process that has stalled partly because of European opposition and the slow pace of Turkish reform.
via Turkey plays growing political role in Middle East.
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