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Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s admirers stretch from the Arab street to the western salon. In the Middle East, the Turkish prime minister is regarded as a courageous champion of the Palestinians. Many western intellectuals also admire Mr Erdogan, believing he has made Turkey a model for an Arab world in turmoil.

At home Mr Erdogan has won three successive elections, presided over an economic boom and enacted important social reforms – in particular the expansion of healthcare to cover the whole population. Internationally he has changed a Turkish foreign policy that was over-focused on the west – and turned his country into a major player in the wider region. Modern Turkey excites interest and admiration because it seems to show it is possible to combine Muslim piety with...