A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Erdogan's Rock-Star Tour of Egypt

 From the way it's looked the past three days, I think we now know who the favorite is for next President of Egypt: Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish Prime Minister was mobbed on his arrival. cheered most places he went, signed a lot of cooperation agreements with Egypt, spoke to the Arab League and a wide range of Egyptian institutions, met with Presidential candidates and revolutionary youth. Though the Muslim Brotherhood at first turned out to cheer him, he told them Egypt should be secular (they, in turn. warned Turkey against any regional ambitions). He criticized Israel, promised close ties with Egypt, and seems to have been treated like a rock star. Examples of reporting  from the visit here and here and here and here.

And it's just the first stop on his "Arab Spring" tour.

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