Days in Turkey(1): Delight in the Egyptian Revolution is

on Everyones Lips
By al-Sayed Hany
elsayedhany@yahoo.com
I was one of the members of the Egyptian journalists who visited Turkey last week.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul received us in the presidential palace in Istanbul. The
meeting lasted for around an hour, then he accompanied us the palace garden overlooking
the Bosphorus Straits to take souvenir photos. The meeting was attended by his Special
Advisor Ersat Hormuzlu, who translated the discussion with the President from Turkish
to Arabic. The newspaper Jumhurriyet published the most important details from the
meeting last Thursday on page 13.
President Gul was greatly pleased with the Egyptian revolution, which he described as
a great revolution. He was pleased that state institutions were not destroyed during the
events of the revolution, and remained at the service of citizens. In his view, this
civilized conduct confirmed that the Egyptian people is able to get through this
transitional period and bring Egypt to the highest levels of contemporary civilization.
We heard the same impression from Mr. Ersat Hormuzlu before the beginning of the
meeting with the President. According to him, there were two things in Egyptian
revolution that pleased him and caused him to be dazzled by the conduct of the Egyptian
people during the revolution: first, the fact that Egyptian men, women, and young people
joined hands to protect the Egyptian museum and thereby saved the antiquities of their
ancestors, whereas in Iraq the Iraqi museum was completely destroyed and had its
holdings plundered! The second thing was the neighborhood watches that stood guard in
the streets to protect homes and families from the thugs and thieves that had escaped
from prison.
Delight in the Egyptian revolution was first thing on everyones lips everywhere we
went. The majority of the places we visited were media institutions, and most people we
met had visited Egypt, or studied and lived there for some time, so they began to tell us
about their memories and their impressions of the January 25 Revolution.
In Ankara, we visited the Turkish television headquarter T.R.T., where we met with
Mr. Ahmet Cavucoglu, General Director and President of the news department, who had
lived in Egypt two separate times. His first stay was 25 years ago, which lasted only nine
months, and which he spent in training in the Faculty of Mass Communication at Cairo
University. His second stay was five years ago and lasted 8 eight months, during which
he worked as a correspondent for Turkish television. He received us saying, Your
revolution is wonderful. Congratulations! Then he began to tell us about his memories
of Cairo from 25 years ago when he went to the headquarters of Egyptian television,
saying: I found a nice building, unlike anything we had in Egypt, but when I went
inside, I found a police officer every 10 meters. After that, I realized that the only way to
stay in power in Egypt is by control of the media and that the portion of freedom given to
the media went only to the service of tyrants!
He also said that when they offered him work in Egypt five years ago, he initially
refused, saying: When I was in Egypt 20 years ago, Mubarak was in power. Mubarak is

still in power now, so what has changed in Egypt for me to see nothing! But they
convinced him of the necessity of going to Egypt to work as a Turkish television
correspondent, especially since he speaks Arabic. When the Israeli attack on Gaza
occurred in December 2008, he went to cover a protest that came out of the al-Azhar
mosque to denounce the attack, and he found that the number of police equaled the
number of protesters, which made him say to himself: If the ruling power in Egypt
repressed the people through the secret police, that would be the utmost oppression!
Then he commented on the name National Democratic Party, saying: Autocratic
ruling powers in any state in the world are keen to call themselves the democratic party.
This happened in Turkey after the military coup that occurred on July 12, 1980, and in
Pakistan in the time of Zia ul-Haq. This also happened in Egypt. These three countries
are the three biggest Muslim countries in the world, and if they were governed in a
proper, democratic way on a basis of transparency, impartiality, and a free media, that
would change the image of Muslims in the world for the better. However, government
corruption has placed Pakistan in the grip of poverty, and it hasnt been able to attain
democracy. Egypt has also remained poor because until the revolution, it was unable to
hold high officials to account, whereas the situation in Turkey has changed to the effect
that everyone is held to account, including the army leadership.
He added: Perhaps one of the reasons for the spread of corruption in the Islamic
world is because in Islamic culture, we leave accountability to the afterlife, but in Turkey
weve started to hold people to account in the world as well.
Director of Turkish television Mr. Ahmed Cavucoglu spoke to us about the situation in
Turkey, saying: Were not a totally free country, but we aspire to freedom. Then he
explained the cause for this as being that the secularists in Turkey want to undertake a
military coup and take things backwards in Turkey!
As for the Kurds, he said that they just represent 10% of the Turkish people, and
despite that, among the 550 representatives in the Turkish parliament, there are 200
representatives of Kurdish origin. But the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party only
attains 50% of the votes of the Kurdish region, which includes 7 provinces in the
southeast of Turkey, and it has 30 members in the parliament.
He added: We dont have any problem with the Kurdish people in Turkey, but the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) headed by Abullah Ocalan is the one that is striving to
divide Turkey by force of arms. This party has a strong relationship with the Israeli
Mossad, and is taking advantage of the democratic climate that has taken root in Tukey to
increase its activities. It has begun to carry out operations using a high level of
technology imported from Israel, but it wont be able to achieve its aim, since the Kurds,
as I explained, are our partners in power, and since the government is exerting great
efforts to give a boost to the Kurdish regions. The PKK is very active in the poor regions
in Turkey, where it exploits peoples poverty to provoke their resentment against the
government, and it hinders the governments efforts to boost these regions. As example
of this is that the Turkish government is trying to establish an airport in the Kurdish
region to link them to the world, but the PKK destroys every effort to set up this airport.
Then Cavucoglu returned to the subject of his memories of Egypt, saying: During my
stay in Egypt, I noticed that the customs, traditions, the way of life and way of thinking in

Egypt are no different than in Turkey, as we rejoice in the same things, and feel sorrow
for the same things, we bear the same feeling, and are brought together by the same
hopes. There are strong and ancient popular links between us, which can never be
weakened, and if some periods have witnessed chilly relations between Egypt and
Turkey, that is attributable to the rulers, and not to the two peoples, since Egyptians and
Turks love each other, and there is no competition between them; rather, there is
cooperation and relations of kinship and marriage, and if they joined hands, they would
become the greatest force in the region.
Then he accompanied us on a short tour of the Turkish television building. He said:
As you notice, the walls of the rooms are all transparent glass. This reflects our way of
thinking, which is based on transparency, impartiality, and a lack of secret agendas.
There are 14 channels broadcast by T.R.T. television, among which is an Arabiclanguage channel, and soon there will be an English-language channel as well.
After the tour, the man shook hands with us warmly, and sent his greetings to the Nile
and the Pyramids. He said, Egypt really is the mother of the world, as they say. But
Im afraid that your revolution is not yet complete. Will you move on to a new stage of
true democracy, or will a new Mubarak come to rule you?

Erdogan in Our House!

by Megahed Khalaf
megahedkh@hotmail.com
Theres an obvious question that everyone in Egypt, and also in the region and the
world is posing: what is the deal with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and what is
the secret of his sweeping popularity even outside Turkey? Its reasonable in Turkey,
among the partisans of the Justice and Development Party, and possibly among its
supporters abroad, but why is there all this consensus in the Arab world?
The simple answer can be narrowed down to a few simple expressions far from
philosophy, analysis of personalities, palm reading and consulting the moon, which is that
this man speaks your language, even if the letters are different, and he expresses your
nationalistic and patriotic feelings. He stays within the framework of the natural
chemistry between the citizen and the nation, and remains in constant contact with the
peoples living, magnetic field, its problems, and its honor. He doesnt disassociate from
them or trade in them on the international or local political slave market. In addition to
this, he has correctly read the current reality and its comprehensive changes, and he has
understood the reality of the balance of power in the region and the impact of these
changes on all the players and dominant powers, who toy with the security and stability
of peoples who were previously helpless.
I think that this is also what Erdogan has said and done on the ground, and the Turkish
leader is not coming out with anything new now. However, the genius is in unveiling a
treasure in front of you that you cannot reach, just like a skillful writer does in translating
reality with great simplicity to create a literary text of universal genius, in order for us to
take up a shared national, Islamic issue, and not an internal Turkish issue. In his position
towards Israel, specifically the attack on the Marmara vessel and the deaths of nine Turks

by the perfidious bullets of Israeli occupying forces, which was the height of thuggery
and brutality. Erdogan rejected all this and confronted it will total decisiveness, force,
honor and dignity, and without drawing red lines. He put the honor and dignity of the
citizen first. He didnt put the strategic ally first, or worry about who would be angered,
he didnt worry aid, excuses, visits, assistance and things of that nature that the colonizer
or semi-colonizer uses to put pressure on and harass its allies in order to protect brutality
and aggression.
As Erdogan said yesterday in a discussion with the great writer Fahmy Howeidy,
Israel with its mentality doesnt want to recognize its mistakes, or that the world around it
is changing. It doesnt want to understand that theres a democratic regime in Turkey
eager to express the conscience of the people, and even more eager to defend its honor.
At the same time, it doesnt grasp the reality of the changes that have happened in the
Arab world, with the fall of some of the tyrannical regimes and the peoples recovering
their awareness and raising their voices high in defense of freedom and dignity. Rather,
Israel has stubbornly refused even to listen to the reasonable voices in the West that have
understood the reality of the changes in the region, and have called on Israel to apologize
to Turkey for her sons that they killed.
He also exposes the Israeli game whereby they rush to accuse anyone who criticizes
their policies of anti-Semitism, and speak about the return of the ghost of war to the lips
of some of their extremists.
When you respond to Israeli arrogance, and only speak about commitment to
international law resorting to international justice, and protecting international water in
the Mediterranean sea, Israel always prefers to ignore all that and behaves like a spoiled
child that prefers to scream and cause a racket rather than recognize the mistakes it has
committed.
Erdogan explains: Israel deals with the Mediterranean as though its an Israeli lake that
it has a monopoly on, and it was our duty and the duty of the international community to
set things right. When we said that Turkish battleships will protect Turkish vessels from
attack while crossing international waters, thats our legitimate right which no one can
oppose, but this angered Israel, which wanted to protect its seizure of the eastern
Mediterranean.
Isnt this the logic we all know and remember about Israel ever since it has been
planted in the region? Whats new is Erdogans insistence on confrontation, and from a
logic of force, even with allies supportive of Israel. Erdogans success has enabled to
stand on strong, solid group and to engage in confrontation, not just with bombastic
words and humorous, humiliating voices that no one pays any attention to, whether
enemies or strategic allies.
The Turkish PM presented another proof of his closeness to the people and his ability
to speak in their language, when immediately upon his arrival at Cairo airport, he said, in
Arabic, to the crowd assembled to receive him: Peace and blessings be upon you. Egypt
and Turkey are one hand. Peace be upon Egypt and the Egyptian people. Peace be upon
the youth of Egypt. How are you? And they replied, Were well.
Is this not the language and dialect of the revolution in Egypt?
Greetings to the leader coming from Anatolia. Welcome to our home and yours. May
we always be moving forward.

Erdogan Studies

By Mutaz Billah Abdel Fattah

In the subject Strategic Leadership, I present different theoretical models to the
students and ask them to select applied examples. Last semester, two of my students
chose Recep Tayyip Erdogan after reading an article about Turkey in the American
magazine Foreign Policy. I told them to ask a colleague of mine of Turkish origin to
help them select references that assess the period of Erdogans rule from different
perspectives.
The American students went and returned with a research paper 30-pages long, with 26
references, and they also returned with admiration for the man and a number of
conclusions.
First: Hes a person who possesses leadership qualities inspiring to those around him.
He doesnt try to be the only player; rather, he rises with those around him, through a
logic whereby he puts the right person in the right place at the right time.
Second: He has great respect for the law and the constitution, and no claims of
corruption, profit-seeking, election fraud, or violating court rulings have yet been
registered against him.
Third: He knows how to choose his battles according to the right time; the first battle
was the mayorship of Istanbul, in which he stood the test. His first basic executive
battleground was in creating his own style in his work to specify precise goals and
determine an action plan, then to delegate authority and follow the execution closely,
rejecting any exploitation of the public post or even giving the impression of the
existence of exploitation, then giving his partners appropriate honors, or accountability,
without flattery. Then came his next five battles in which he succeeded with flying
colors: gaining a parliamentary majority, becoming prime minister, then the presidential
contest, then the battle to pare the claws of the National Security Council, then the battle
to reform the Supreme Judicial Council.
Fourth: His success in managing the economic transformation from a sluggish,
humdrum economy to a strong, competitive economy that has put Turkey among the top
20 economies in the world, and whose average growth competes with what China has
achieved. Turkeys total output has doubled in a decade, per capita income has risen five
times in ten years, and the illiteracy rate is down to less than 10%.
Fifth: His foreign battles have been no less successful. By the force of democracy, he
refused to let the Americans use Turkish army bases. Ankara is now becoming an
essential player through its preservation of a balance between beneficial diplomatic and
trade relations with Syria, Iran, and the Arabs on one hand, and its remaining a member
of NATO on the other.
Whats the difference between Turkey 10 years ago and Turkey now? The spirit of
leadership that Erdogan and his companions possess.
Whats the difference between Turkey and Egypt? Turkey has Erdogans production
mechanisms, whereas Egypt now produces these mechanisms through new parties, or the
coming elections, or effective civil society institutions.
We need someone like him, whether he comes from conservative, liberal, socialist, or
nationalist roots. The important thing is for him to be Egyptian, strong in knowledge and
experience, trustworthy and impartial in his conduct, respectful of the law and the
constitution. Search for him or someone like him, and dont confuse popularity with

ability, between skill at writing and television presence, between administrative expertise
and a charismatic personality.
The writer and broadcaster whos clever on paper and in the studio is not necessarily
able to administer and to act. Our country is too dear for us to experiment with it, or to
let it be a tool for the personal ambitions of some of us.

Lend Me Erdogan for a Month!

By Mohamed Amin
The Turkish invasion didnt just begin now. It began years ago with the drama
Muhannad and Noor. I said, expect the Turkish hordes. Some may imagine that this is
a strange tune now, when the Turkish delegation headed by Erdogan enjoys a popular and
official celebration. I only want to stress the meaning of what I see today before my eyes.
Nevertheless, Recep Tayyip Erdogan did just undertake a visit to Egypt at the head of a
delegation and high-level visitors, but he came with a state that is recovering its glories in
Egypt. An unprecedented media celebration voluntary, not paid for is accompanying
his visit, as happened in the past with some presidents, princes, and kings, some of the
Gulf countries, and the meaning is that the Egyptians welcome the Turkish prime
minister, and some of them are saying Lend me Erdogan for a month, and Ill create
glory for you. The problem isnt in the peoples, but in the political leaders, the political
will, and the political administration. These people also remember Mahathir Mohamed,
inasmuch as he reflects a big interest in the Turkish and Malaysian experience equally.
Hes not a normal visitor, and this isnt a normal visit. Erdogan must hold some stock
with the Egyptians. Imagine that a good man does all this, he talks about Islam, and
presents of moderate image of it, then he says of himself that hes neither a leader nor a
commander; rather, hes one of the great servants of Turkey. The word servant gave me
pause, since I called for an association of servants of Egypt, and I hoped to see the
president as a servant, the minister as a servant, and the representative as a servant,
until we were all servants of Egypt. Some people hesitated to call the association
servants from above and said Why dont you change the name to head servants, and
not servants. I said Im a servant and proud of it. And Erdogan came to say in a loud
voice that hes a servant of his people, and its certain that the translation didnt have the
word servant from above, or if it had it, I would have found it in better taste. Serving
the people is a blessing, and serving the nation is an honor and a distinction. So
Erdogans distinction is not that hes good, but that he knows the value of national
service. Hes taken an interest in education, and considers it as essential as breathing, and
when Ahmed Zuweil spoke on this subject, he said a lot about the Turkish experience.
The popular and official celebration must have been a great advertisement for Erdogan
himself, and he must have noticed the Egypt of the revolution is different than the Egypt
of Mubarak. He himself knows that Egypt under Mubarak hesitated to deal with regional
powers, and rejected Turkey and Iran; rather, it preferred Israel. However, Erdogan
knows Egypts status, and knows that it can lead the region into the future. He also
knows that when Egypt rose up, the entire Arab street rose up as well. This is the story
that Mubarak neglected, and that the whole toppled regime neglected. And this is why
we respect Erdogans experience, since its the experience of a servant of his people,

not a leader or a commander. Its an experience we should pause before, because it

speaks for itself. The difference between the experience marketed by the media and the
one marketed by its results is a big one. The Turkish experience is closer to the
Malaysian one. Its true that we celebrated Malaysia, but our celebration of Turkey is
beyond any celebration. Official Turkey knows that, and the state brought its pillars, and
it knows its not a mere visit, but an invasion by every standard. And the Egyptians open
their gates for them gladly!