Time magazine covers ‘Erdoğan’s way’

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to appear on the cover of Time magazine’s Europe, Asia and Pacific regional editions when the well-known U.S. magazine hits shelves on Nov. 28.

The magazine’s cover title reads “Erdoğan’s Way” and shows a black-and-white photo of Erdoğan with his arms folded.

Time’s feature on Erdoğan introduces a detailed report on his visit to the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

“Cairo greeted Recep Tayyip Erdoğan like a rock star, with thousands of his fans carrying posters of him, cheering and chanting slogans at the airport,” Time’s report said.

The story also noted the results of a poll carried out by Maryland University, according to which Erdoğan was the most admired leader among the Arab people in 2010.

“[Erdoğan is] the kind of leader which the people rising against tyrants would like to see in their countries,” it said.

“It is true that Erdoğan acts autocratically from time to time, [behaving] disrespectfully to his political opponents, jailing his foes and intimidating media outlets. But in the eyes of his supporters, these faults are not important compared to his successes,” the report said.

“Turkey’s success shows Arab Islamists that they can modernize their countries without severing their religious roots. According to his admirers in the West, Erdoğan’s Turkey shows political Islam does not need to be an enemy of modernity,” the report said.

Zero problems

When it comes to Turkey’s “zero problems with neighbors” policy, which entails its relationships with bordering and regional countries, the article said the Arab spring has challenged Turkey’s foreign policy.

“It worked: Erdoğan seemed to form a close bond with Assad, even inviting the Syrian dictator to vacation in Turkey. It also served Turkey’s economic ambitions,” the article read. “The Arab Spring finally made the Zero Problems doctrine untenable.”

The article also touches on the growing problems at home, such as the arrest of journalists. “He [Erdoğan] is notoriously thin-skinned about criticism and paranoid about coups. Fears that he will dilute Turkey’s secularism have been replaced by a growing concern that he will push for executive power to be concentrated in the office of the President.”

Erdoğan has turned down his opponents who feared he may turn Turkey into another Iran, the article said. “They now fear he will turn it into another Russia.”