The Arab Spring has brought forth a new reality: A Turkish prime minster makes a historic visit to Egypt, and speaks as if he has come home. It's fair to assume that Recep Tayyip Erdogan would not have dared make such an aggressive speech towards Israel before the U.S. Congress. Also, that with a different U.S. president in office, Erdogan would not have dared make the speech in any Arab capital at all. And it's also a fair guess that if Hosni Mubarak was still in power, Erdogan would not have gone to Egypt altogether. But the newest and possibly the most significant development is Erdogan's newly coined title in the post-Tahrir streets: Salah ad-Din, known in the West as Saladin. Erdogan spoke on Tuesday before the Arab League, speaking in a very hostile manner towards Israel and a very gentle, accommodating and understanding way to the Arab street. What wouldn't someone do to please the Arab masses? What wouldn't someone give to gain control of a confused Arab world? And what wouldn't someone give to be named after the man who succeeded in ruling the Arabs and even conquered Jerusalem- Erdogan continued on Tuesday, as expected, to erode relations with Israel. His next stops in his revolutionary tour are Tunisia and Libya. One should hope for his sake that he still has some anti-Israel statements left in the chamber. But just in case, after threatening us on the seas and in the air, I would suggest for him, in Libya or Tunisia, to gallantly threaten us on land. One needs to understand where Erdogan is coming from; he bet on a zero conflict policy. He invested in leaders, including those in Syria and Libya. It took him some time to understand what was transpiring in Tunisia and Egypt. And now everything has turned upside down for him. What can he do- There is no better formula than direct confrontation with Israel. It's a simple and efficient way to boost one's image in the Middle East, where he has chosen to invest his energies in. The Turkish zero conflict policy has given way to contest Israel policy. In Erdogan's eyes its currently 1:0 to Turkey. Erdogan is also so savvy at taking advantage of situations that some people are convinced that opportunism is a Turkish word: Sept. 20 is days away and Erdogan is now a Palestinian lobbyist. It's time maybe to remind Erdogan that with all due respect to the Ottoman Empire which he misses so dearly, it's actually Israel, which he attacks, that paved the way for the Palestinian state. It's a fair presumption that Erdogan's performance in Egypt was not received too warmly, and not only because Egypt is a full partner in the blockade of Gaza. Egypt's Supreme Military Council is still not ready for democracy, and Erdogan's waving of his Turkish Islamist democracy only serves to rile up the masses. Erdogan is unlikely to ask the Egyptian street to apologize for comparing him to Salah ad-Din. And that man, who gallantly fought the Crusaders, it must be said, was actually a Kurd.
