CAIRO - Did you see Mohanad? This was the question all my friends asked when I returned from Turkey last week. Mohanad is the Turkish actor Kivanc Tatlitug, who was admired by millions of Egyptian and Arab viewers, especially women, when his TV serial Nour, the most popular Turkish drama in the Arab world, was aired two years ago. “Unfortunately, no,” I told them, smiling. I was one of 56 young Egyptian revolutionaries invited to visit Turkey from June 3-8, in order to have an up-close look at the political and economic systems there. Our visit also gave us the chance to observe the electoral campaigning process, as Turkish political parties head into parliamentary elections slated for June 12. My friends and many other Egyptians know nothing about Turkey except its drama, and Mohanad, of course. To be honest, Egyptians love Turkish soap operas, which have a knack of tackling social issues in a romantic way. But there is much more to say about Turkey, a country which admires the young Egyptians for courageously toppling long-ruling strongman Mubarak. The revolt has inspired more co-operation with Turkey. President Abdullah Gul was the first foreign leader to visit Egypt after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak's regime. The delegation of revolutionaries was privileged to meet with him at his residence in Istanbul. The delegation was also met individually and separately by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. They also witnessed a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) rally in Istanbul and visited the offices of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). But their contacts were by no means limited to politicians, as they also found time to meet with businessmen and trade organisations. All expressed a real desire for more co-operation and stronger partnerships. They didn't just receive a warm welcome from politicians, but ordinary people in the street too. “Where are you from?” the cabbie asked me, on my way to the hotel. “I'm from Egypt,” I replied. “Wow! Congratulations on your revolt. We're so happy. We'll visit Egypt soon. We're proud of you!” the man said, with genuine happiness. As Arabic is the language of the Holy Qur'an, a centre for teaching it will open in Istanbul in September, to open new horizons with Arabic-speaking nations. “Turkey will host students from 70 countries, including Turkey itself, the Middle East, Europe, the US and Australia, in order to learn Arabic at this centre,” said Suleiman Baybaras, a professor of Arabic language at Istanbul University. Turkey has around 200 public and private universities – about 50 in Istanbul, 20 in Ankara and at least one in each of Turkey's 81 provinces. “You can't imagine how eager Turkish people are to learn the Arabic language – they're more eager than they are to learn English.” Suleiman added that there would be teachers from Jordan and Saudi Arabia, while they are also now in contact with Egyptians and other Arabs. “The Egyptian revolution adds a new horizon for bilateral co-operation. The Arabic language in Turkey has a promising future,” Suleiman told The Gazette. The revolution has inspired Murat Mercan, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Ankara-based Parliament, to visit Egypt, although, only a few months ago, he was dead against doing such a thing. “Last time I visited Egypt was in 2010. And I promised myself I would not go to Egypt again, as long as Mubarak was in power. Thank-you for opening Egypt's doors to me again,” Murat said. Murat was a member of the convoy carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in January 2010 from Cairo to el-Arish. They were held up many times in checkpoints, even though the police knew their intentions were good. The police didn't facilitate their mission and people even threw bricks at them. “What I saw in Midan Al Tahrir impressed me a lot. I followed the revolution blow by blow. It was one of the world's most important events in recent years,” he stressed. “If Cairo, Baghdad and Syria are not safe, Istanbul won't be safe either,” said Murat, describing this as a maxim of the Turkish people. He assured us that, with Egypt and Turkey close together, the future of the Middle East will be strong. The visit was organised by the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, a non-profit research institute, dedicated to innovative studies on national, regional and international issues. The objective of SETA is to produce up-to-date and accurate knowledge and analyses in the fields of politics, economy and society, and to inform policymakers and the public on changing political, economic, social and cultural conditions. SETA evaluates national and international issues in an historical and cultural context. “No doubt the changes which Turkey has experienced since the early 2000s and the January 25 revolution in Egypt have created an atmosphere in which bilateral relations can grow to unprecedented levels,” said Ufuk Ulutas, a researcher in foreign policy studies at SETA. “We support the rapprochement between Turkey and the Arab world and see it as normalisation of history. State-to-state contact will surely increase. The missing link has been the establishment of strong relations between civil society in both countries. “Think tanks, universities, non-governmental and human right organisations should establish strong links to nurture new, strong relations between the two countries. We at SETA are ready to contribute to this at the civil society level.”
