CAIRO – The standing ovation, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received, is full of meaning and symbolism. A huge crowd welcomed him on his arrival at Cairo Airport and paid tribute to his great support for the Arab and Palestinian case. The Turkish Premier is the perfect example of a statesman, a leader pioneering development and renaissance. It goes without saying that Egyptians are currently missing such a statesman in their own country. Erdogan is undoubtedly the national hero the Egyptians are looking for. People, are closely following his domestic and foreign policies, aware that over the last ten years Erdogan has led his country to grow into one of the world's twenty strongest economies, regardless of several difficult patches Turkey went through, including military coups. Erdogan managed to contain the military and preserve the Turkish model of secularism. Before Erdogan assumed office, army generals in Turkey used to overthrow their governments on the pretext of preserving the Islamic identity of the Turkish nation. He cleverly replaced Ataturkism with Erdoganism and led his ruling party to produce a cocktail of Islamic tendencies and liberal thoughts, which positively drew a line between State and religion. Together with the president of the republic and his party, Erdogan leads a government that embraces Islam. His government has strengthened the bridges with Arab and Muslim nations. Egyptians appreciated Erdogan's support for the January 25 revolution and his call on president Hosni Mubarak to resign and allow the Egyptian people to rebuild their country, which was pillaged and corrupted by Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP). Erdogan criticised Mubark's regime for letting his people down, when it wanted social justice, freedom and development. Mubarak's cronies grabbed vast swathes of state-owned land and spirited huge amounts of money away into foreign banks. Accompanied by over 200 Turkish businesspeople, Erdogan clearly rekindled Egyptians' hope to explore the vast horizon of joint economic, investment development plans. Erdogan adopted the same stance on the Tunisian and Libyan revolutions. He is stepping up his criticism of Syrian President Bashar El-Assad and his brutal crackdown. Turkey has opened its border to thousands of Syrians, who fled the atrocities and massacres committed by Bashar, his military and armed villains. Egypt and other Arab nations also praise Erdogan for preserving his country's dignity by strongly condemning Israel. He expelled the Israeli ambassador and pledged to break Israel's siege on Gaza. The world is now watching the development of Erdogan's showdown with Israel, after his government decided to appeal to the International Court of Justice. Ankara is also considering the dispatch of warships to protect Gaza-bound aid flotillas. Erdogan's firm refusal to abandon his principles of justice and rights is widely appreciated by Egyptians, who suffered over 30 years of coercion and oppression. The January 25 revolution has encouraged Egyptians to dream of democracy, human rights, social justice and dignity. They admire the Turkish model and want a leader, who gives them a similar one. Erdogan has left Cairo, but his visit won't be forgotten. Let's celebrate the birth of new hopes in the skies over Turkey and Egypt, whose collective population is 160 million on 1.7 million square km. Let's see how the newly established Turkish- Egyptian axis will help the foundations of justice and democracy in the entire Middle East region. [email protected]
