“It is wrong to regard Turkey's current foreign policy, which is geared toward the Middle East, as neo-Ottomanism as its current direction signifies a return to the foreign policy followed during the time of the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,” said Ali Arslan, a lecturer at the department of history at Istanbul University in the exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman.

Arslan underlined that “the Prime Minister criticizes not the Israeli state, but the Israeli government.”

“Currently, there is a foreign policy strategy which is very similar to the multifaceted foreign policy practices employed during the time of Atatürk. Atatürk contacted the countries in the region as the UK was leaving the region. Now, the US is pulling out of the region, and Turkey is contacting the countries in the region in the same manner,” he said.

Commenting on Turkey’s efforts in making Islam global religion, Arslan stated, “It was the Turks who saved the Arab world from the Crusades in 1092 and prevented the Crusaders from achieving political domination in the region. After 1492, Spain and Portugal turned their eyes to the Middle East. In 1508, the Portuguese conquered Hormuz and Muscat. They even attempted to move the Prophet’s grave to Europe in 1512. Faced with the Portuguese conquering Medina and Mecca, Turkey took action.”

“Neo-Ottomanism is not realistic; there is neither the will nor the power to conduct neo-Ottomanist foreign policy. The Ottoman Empire was dominant in the region because of global competition. The peoples in the region needed the Ottomans. Currently, Turkey has no potential to become a global actor. Also, the Middle Eastern countries looked at the Ottoman state through the lens of an Islamic perspective,” the Professor said, adding that “For this reason, neo-Ottomanism is not an achievable goal.”