The New Islamist Alliance?

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu [right] with Prime Minister Erdogan

Turkey Predicts Alliance With Egypt as Regional Anchors -Anthony Shadid

A newly assertive Turkey offered on Sunday a vision of a starkly realigned Middle East, where the country’s former allies in Syria and Israel fall into deeper isolation, and a burgeoning alliance with Egypt underpins a new order in a region roiled by revolt and revolution.

The portrait was described by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey in an hourlong interview before he was to leave for the United Nations, where a contentious debate was expected this week over a Palestinian bid for recognition as a state. Viewed by many as the architect of a foreign policy that has made Turkey one of the most relevant players in the Muslim world, Mr. Davutoglu pointed to that issue and others to describe a region in the midst of a transformation. Turkey, he said, was “right at the center of everything”...[and] could create a new axis of power at a time when American influence in the Middle East seems to be diminishing.
[New York Times]
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