New York Times: "While the US sits and watches, Turkey is assertively solving problems"

Citing international efforts to mediate a solution to the ongoing government crisis in Lebanon, a New York Times editorial yesterday praised Turkey's role. "The confrontation here is the latest sign of a shifting map of the Middle East," said the Times, "where longtime stalwarts like Saudi Arabia and Egypt have further receded in influence, and emerging powers like Turkey, Iran and even the tiny Persian Gulf state of Qatar have decisively emerged in just a matter of a few years. It is yet another episode in which the United States has watched — seemingly helplessly — as events in places like Tunisia, Lebanon and even Iraq unfold unexpectedly and beyond its ability to control. In a series of stalemates — from the Arab-Israeli conflict to Lebanon — Turkey has proved the most dynamic, projecting an increasingly assertive and independent foreign policy in an Arab world bereft of any country that matches its stature. Its success is a subtle critique of America's longstanding policy in the Middle East of trying to isolate and ostracize its enemies. From Hezbollah here to the followers of a populist, anti-American cleric in Iraq, Turkey has managed to forge dialogue with America's enemies and allies alike. Turkey has become, until the contrary is proven, an indispensable state in the reorganizing of this region."