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Thu, March 03, 2011 | The Rubin Report | By Barry Rubin

Turkish fusion of Muslim beliefs and western principles? A reflection extends the minarets on the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo: Richard Hamilton Smith/Corbis)

Turkish Camouflage Model: Arab Radicals Learn How to Hide Your Islamism

Newsweek explains how the “Turkish Model” works:

As revolutions across the Mideast bring religious parties within sight of real political power, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is becoming the region’s go-to man for Islamist leaders looking for a makeover. Tunisia’s exiled Islamist leader Rached Ghannouchi, who is scheduled to visit Ankara in March, believes that Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has shown others how to “align Islam with modernity,” pointing a path from the political wilderness to the mainstream. Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is also following in Erdogan’s footsteps, setting up a moderate Freedom and Justice Party—which will include members of the Coptic Christian minority—to run in upcoming elections. Morocco’s Islamists have borrowed the Justice and Development Party’s name. In Jordan, too, the Islamic Action Front has called for King Abdullah to look to “the Turkish model.” A recent study conducted by the Istanbul-based TESEV think tank found that 75 percent of Arab respondents considered Turkey a “successful example of the coexistence of Islam and democracy.”

In other words, be an Islamist but pretend you aren’t. The fact that Erdogan is an ally of Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hizballah is not a good sign for those who follow what might be better called the Turkish Camouflage-Your-Extremism Model.