WHEN he came to Egypt in 1998 to learn Arabic at the American University in Cairo, little could he have imagined that he'd come back to Egypt 12 years later as Turkish Minister for Foreign Affairs, in order to give a speech on Turkish policies and peace in the Middle East. Ahmet Davutoglu was one of the leading actors in the Turkish Government involved in the shuttle diplomacy to settle the Gaza war that raged from December 2008 to January 2009. Davutoglu was appointed as the Foreign Minister of Turkey on May 1, 2009. He has since called for Turkey to become more than just a regional power within Europe and the Middle East, as he desires Ankara to have a far more influential role in world politics. "Our relations with the world countries are good," he told a gathering at the AUC, including ambassadors of different foreign and Arab countries, former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, AUC professors and students. "We won't achieve peace unless there are good relations between countries,” he added, pointing out that most leaders in the Middle East seldom meet each other. "I don't mean a certain country, but there are leaders and politicians who don't meet each other for years. We need to increase the meetings and strengthen our relations. "Even if there is a misunderstanding between two countries, we should be aware that the misunderstanding will pass and the good relations will outlive it." He mentioned the Iraqi elections, which are due to be held on Sunday, and said: "These elections are very important and we hope there will be Kurds, Muslims, Sunnis and Shi'ites, in the new Parliament. Turkey will defend Iraq's right to stability". Davutoglu is generally linked to the notion of Turkish neo-Ottomanism, which favours a commonwealth with its neighbours and old Ottoman connections. Answering a question asked by an AUC student about the threat to the region of Iran's nuclear file, he said: "Why do we think of threats? Why don't we think about joint c -operation?” As for Israel, he said it's causing instability in the region and “there must be a declaration to establish a Palestinian state”. "And today I'd like to tell my Egyptian counterparts that there is a strategic, diplomatic dialogue between us. Turkey and Egypt have a similar responsibility to achieve stability in the region."
