Analysis: Turkey acts as mentor for emerging Islamists in region

Ankara's evolving response to the upheavals of the Arab Spring is broadly in harmony with its NATO and European Union allies, who had balked at the AKP's previous "zero problems with the neighbors" policy, that indulged Syria and its ally Iran, and which some derided as a neo-Ottoman turn away from Turkey's long-standing Western ties.

Both Turkey and its Western allies now hope the success of the AKP in transiting from Islamist roots to a sort of Muslim version of Christian Democracy, and in running a dynamic economy that has doubled the income of its people, will be an attractive model to Arab Islamist parties now coming to the fore.

"I think the AKP hope is that they will be really an example for the Islamists of the region and they will moderate themselves and become parties like AKP which respects Islamic values but mainly focuses on economic development and doesn't support a radical agenda," said Mustafa Akyol, author of the recent book "Islam without extremes: a Muslim Case For Liberty".

Erdogan and his government are nonetheless intent on influencing the reformists in the Arab Islamist parties.
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