"All Roads Lead to Istanbul
Turkey is more popular now than it has been since the Ottoman Empire. But can it please all of its new friends at the same time?
BY JAMES TRAUB | OCTOBER 15, 2010
ANKARA, Turkey - It's great to be Turkey just now. The economy, barely scathed by the global recession, grew 11.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, and 10.3 percent in the second. Like the Ottoman Empire reborn, Turkey has sponsored a visa-free zone with Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, and is moving toward creating a free trade zone as well. And Turkey is a force not just in its neighborhood but, increasingly, in the world. It's the next president of the Council of Europe, an observer of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and a new friend of ASEAN and Mercosur. And the world is beating a path to its doorstep: When I was in Ankara this week, the Sudanese foreign minister was in town; the French, the Austrians, and the Poles had just visited. Senior Iraqi politicians were making regular pilgrimages. Turkey has become a net exporter of diplomatic services. 'For the first time,' says Selim Yenel, the highly Americanized deputy undersecretary of foreign affairs responsible for relations with Washington, 'they're asking us for advice.' "
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