The emerging alliance between Egypt's Mohamed Morsi and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan reflects two Islamist leaders maneuvering to reshape the Middle East.
CAIRO — Egypt and Turkey are forging an alliance that showcases two Islamist leaders maneuvering to reshape a Middle East gripped by political upheaval and passionate battles over how deeply the Koran should penetrate public life.
The
relationship may foreshadow an emerging regional order in which the
sway of the United States gradually fades against Islamist voices no
longer contained by militaries and pro-Western autocrats.
Each
country has a distinct vision of political Islam, but Turkey, which
straddles Europe and Asia, and Egypt, the traditional heart of the Arab
world, complement each other for now. Turkey's strong economy may help
rescue Egypt from financial crisis, while Cairo may further Ankara's
ambition to rise as a force among Islamic-backed governments.
What bonds and rivalries may
ensue is unclear, but they are likely to affect what rises from the
bloodshed in Syria, the influence of oil nations in the Persian Gulf,
future policies toward Israel and the volatile divide between moderate
and ultraconservative Islamists. The nations offer competing story lines
playing out between the traditional and the contemporary.
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