Erdogan strongest leader in Middle East

Erdogan strongest leader in Middle East

Haarethz New had an article by Anshel Pfeffer that says Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of Turkey is the strongest leader in the Middle East.

The thousands of refugees who fled Syria in the past week are providing Erdogan with an opportunity to determine the fate of Syria.

The political earthquake in Arab countries has yielded additional unexpected benefits for the Turkish prime minister. In the short term, the thousands of refugees who fled Syria in the past week created a logistic and humanitarian headache for Ankara, and may even be increasing fears of renewed tension with the Kurds. However, they are providing Erdogan with an opportunity to determine the fate of Syria.

The regime in Damascus, in the first three months of the revolution being fought against it, contained events within the country's borders. It cut off Western media and expelled their correspondents, greatly undermining the ability of the few opposition groups - inside Syria and in exile - to close ranks against the government and to begin to offer an alternative to the Assad dynasty.

The coming months will see the government in Damascus grow weaker, with more soldiers refusing to fire on civilians and ethnic groups increasingly joining the revolution. The refugee camps on Turkish soil will serve as a breeding ground for the new Syrian opposition; only factions friendly to Ankara will be permitted to grow. If that happens as expected, the new Syria will be a vassal state of Turkey.

Syrian opposition groups are planning to ignite a new wave of protests in Arab capitals to push President Bashir al-Assad from power by harnessing international anger at the state's brutal attack on demonstrators, according to the Telegraph in the UK.

The protests are planned for the first week of July in the hope of persuading Arab governments to turn against the regime, Wissam Tarif, a prominent activist said.

Meanwhile, refugees who have set up camps inside Syria near Turkey are forming "people's committees" and arming against further government retaliation.

More than three months of protests have shocked the Syrian regime, which until March thought it had escaped the "Arab spring"

While the uprising has not overthrown the country's leader, or divided Syria like Libya, it has paralyzed the nation.

Activists blame Russia and China for opposing resolutions to put pressure on the regime at the United Nations, and the Arab League, which has failed to condemn the regime's actions as it did with Libya.

Arab League. Amr Moussa, secretary-general, said members were "worried and angry" at events in Syria, and that the situation was unsustainable.