CAIRO - The Turkish role in the Middle East is complementary to Egypt's efforts to achieve stability and peace in this volatile region, a Turkish official said Monday ahead of talks Tuesday between Turkish President Abdullah Gul and President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. "Egypt and Turkey are not rivals, but partners. Both countries integrate their efforts and exchange their views for the sake of stability in the Middle East," Ersat Hurmuzlu, Turkish President's Chief Advisor on the Middle East, told Egypt's official Middle East News Agency. Hurmuzlu added that Gul's visit to Egypt would focus on consultations with Mubarak on major issues, especially the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel. "Turkey feels gratitude for Egypt's role in the peace process. Any talk about rivalry between both countries goes back to the Cold War," he said. Analysts agreed that the Turkish role in the region is becoming more influential than before due to a handful of reasons. "The Turkish are playing their role based on their strategic interests in this region. They do not want to lose the European and US support, but they also try to gain the Arabs' backing," Emad Gad of the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, told the Egyptian Mail. Gad added that the Arabs had become more aware of the Turkish presence in this region after Israel's May 31 raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, which resulted in nine Turkish citizens being killed. "The Turkish know how to touch the chords of Arabs' hearts, and they do," Gad said. Paul Salem, the Director of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Centre, agrees that recent developments in the region have also empowered Turkey, who is increasingly engaged in the Middle East both economically and diplomatically. "Turkey's role is increasing and becoming more influential. Its type of politics, especially its recent position against Israel, gave its role much more weight," Salem has written in an essay, published last week. He added that the balance of power in the Middle East was shifting. "With the United States withdrawing from Iraq and Iran's attempts to strengthen its reach across the region, there is uncertainty about who will shape future events." While Turkey is increasingly charting a path based on its own strategic interests, Salem contends: “Turkey is not turning away from Europe and the United States.”
