ERDOGAN RISING

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pan-Muslim leader, stirring pro-Turkish emotions which have been stifled since the downfall of the Ottoman Empire 92 years ago. only Erdogan and the Egyptian diva Um Kalthoum have been able to capture the minds and hearts of Arabs and Muslims. 10 years ago, Gamal Abdul Nasser, the "godfather" of modern Arabism.

Erdogan is A Turkish citizen with an Islamic agenda who does not speak a word of Arabic. In January, he was awarded the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for "service to Islam". won pan-Arab and pan-Islamic popularity.

• March 1, 2003, two weeks before Erdogan assumed office, headed by his Justice and Development Party (AKP) - vetoed the United States to open a second front against Iraq from the north. This gave him his first points with Arabs and Muslims

• March 2005, Rumsfeld bitterly complained that if we had been able to get the 4th Infantry Division in from the north and Had Turkey been more cooperative "the insurgency today [in Iraq] would be less". Rumsfeld pinned another medal on Erdogan

• 2003, he strengthening his relations with Syria at a time when Bush was trying to isolate Syria.

• Erdogan again defied the US by receiving Khalid Meshaal, the head of the political bureau of Hamas, after he emerged victorious in parliamentary elections in 2005,

• he declined an invitation from Ariel Sharon to visit Israel in 2004

• July 2004, did not meet Ehud Olmert on his visit to Turkey in

• 2008 , stood up for the Palestinians during the war on Gaza in and accused of war crimes

• January 2009,To Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum at Davos

"President Peres, you are old, and your voice is loud out of a guilty conscience. When it comes to killing, you know very well how to kill. I know well how you hit and kill children on beaches."

This rocketed him to pan-Arab and pan-Islamic fame nothing compared to

• last week the (IDF) stormed the Free Gaza flotilla, killing nine Turkish citizens onboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara. Erdogan angrily withdrew his ambassador from Israel. This led to his country's flag being hoisted by protesters in massive demonstrations that stretched throughout Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut and Cairo "We are fed up with Israeli lies; the actions of the Israeli government harm Israel itself before harming others."

• Arabs cheered as he hinted that he would board a ship and head off to Gaza to help break the Israeli siege that began in 2007, and would let the Turkish navy accompany him into Palestinian waters to ensure the IDF would be helpless as he ventured into the Gaza Strip.

Erdogan is at his finest hour.

Earlier in the year, he forced the Israeli government to apologize after humiliating his ambassador to Israel.

He hammered out a uranium-swap agreement with Brazil and Iran,

Ankara has put in place visa-free travel agreements with Lebanon, Jordan, Libya and Syria, while one with Russia will soon come into effect.

"Overnight he [Erdogan] has become the most popular person in the Arab world. he is a devote Muslim whose wife wears a headscarf. He has said "no" to Israel and put his full weight behind the Palestinians. He is on the same level as Egypt's Nasser, Syria's Hafez al-Assad, Palestinian Yasser Arafat and Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah

In the past seven years he has rebranded Turkey. He exhibits a new kind of leadership that combines the traits of Nasser, Assad and Nasrallah.