Mediating role wins kudos for Turkey among Arabs

By Ayla Jean Yackley

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's efforts to solve regional problems such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme have enhanced its standing among its Arab neighbours, a report said on Friday.

About three-quarters of Arabs believed Turkey, should be more active in tackling the region's problems, according to the study by the Istanbul-based Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, or Tesev.

It said 61 percent believed the country, which has a secular constitution but is largely Muslim, was a successful model for the Islamic world.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government had broken with the foreign policy of the past that was largely disengaged with the Middle East and has boosted Turkey's political, cultural and economic presence in the region, said the report, entitled "Perceptions of Turkey in the Middle East".

"A party with Islamic roots taking power democratically that has worked to strengthen democracy has increased the Middle East's interest in Turkey in a measurable way," it said.

Seventy-five percent of those questioned had a "very positive" or "positive" view of Turkey, making it the second most popular country in the region after Saudia Arabia, according to the survey of 2,006 people conducted in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Territories.

"Turkey has favoured a policy of conflict resolution, which has received serious backing from people in the region," Mensur Akgun, the head of Tesev's foreign policy programme and one of the authors of the report, said at a news conference.

To retain that support, Turkey must be impartial in the region's conflicts and emphasise mediation, he said.