By: Middle East Times – News World Communications Inc.

Since the demise of the Ottoman Empire at the close of the First World War, Turkey, under the leadership of Mustapha Kemal, or as he was better known, Ataturk, withdrew the country into itself. The father of modern-day Turkey wanted to pull the country out of the Levant and attach it to Europe, something successive prime ministers have since been working to achieve.

TURKEY’S MAN — A parachute carrying a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered founder of modern Turkey, during a ceremony celebrating the Republic Day in Ankara on Oct. 29. (Xinhua/Photoshot via Newscom)

Ataturk changed many aspects of Turkey, from the alphabet, adopting the Latin alphabet to the detriment of the Arabic one. He banned the fez for men and the veil for women and did all that he could to Europeanize the country. He also elected to “distance” Turkey from Levantine politics.

And for the most part, he was successful, and with few exceptions, so were his successors. Although Turkey was, and remains, an ardent supporter of NATO, since the collapse of Ottoman rule, the country has managed to stay largely out of international intrigue.

Turkey took part in the Korean War, (officially known as a “police action”), and as prime minister at the time, Bulent Ecevit ordered Turkish troops to invade northern Cyprus in 1974 (or as the invasion was called by the Turks, “the intervention”) in order to protect Turkish Cypriots after a coup by right wingers in the Greek part of the island were suspected of wanting to unite the island to Greece.

But in the last few years we have seen Turkey beginning to emerge from its shell and play a greater role in regional politics. Among other major tasks, the most prominent of its new attempts at conflict resolution is playing the part of middleman between Syria and Israel.

And as a country straddling two cultures, sitting at the crossroads of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, Turkey finds itself today in a unique position to help bridge the East-West and the Judeo-Christian-Muslim divide.

Turkey, perhaps more so than any other country is better prepared to understand the region’s needs in conflict resolution.

“Turkey is a country becoming more active in global politics,” said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during an appearance at Washington’s National Press Club last week.

The Turkish prime minister welcomed the changes promised by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and said that further change was needed to reduce world poverty, injustice and ignorance, three scourges of the modern world, and which Erdogan called “our common enemy.” And if left to percolate, the Turkish prime minister said could easily transform into hatred. And from hatred to terrorism it’s a very short ride.