Gul: "Turkey isn't a model, but a source of inspiration"

Turkey isn't a model for the countries of the Middle East, but rather a source of inspiration, according to President Abdullah Gul. In an interview with Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei), Japan's biggest business newspaper, Gul spoke on Turkey's foreign policy goals and the Arab Spring, saying that Turkey acts as a regional leader. "We have a structure capable of undertaking this role both historically and geographically, and we have been undertaking a more active role in recent years than in the past," Gul told the paper in the interview, entitled "Turkey's Rise: Towards Regional Leadership." Asked if Turkey would serve as a model for the democratization of Middle Eastern and Arab countries, Gul said, "The entire Middle East is following and inspired by Turkey."