Azernews.Az

ANKARA – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been named man of the year for 2010 by CNN’s Arabic website. The website has announced that Erdoрan was chosen following a survey among its readers. Of those who participated in the survey, 74 percent voted for Erdoрan to make him man of the year, the Anatolia news agency reported on Saturday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad followed Erdoрan on the list, getting votes from 20 percent of the participants. The website said Erdogan was given the "man of the year" title thanks to his successful diplomatic moves. Erdogan’s popularity in the Arab world has increased dramatically in the Arab world in recent years as he emerged as the most outspoken critic of Israeli policies in Gaza in international political circles. In 2008, Erdogan walked out of a World Economic Forum session after a heated exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres over an Israeli offensive in Gaza. "When it comes to killing people, you know how to do it," Erdogan told Peres.

Turkish-Israeli relations, once a strong alliance, took a nosedive following the Davos saga as Erdogan continued to criticize Israeli treatment of Palestinians and called Israel the "main threat for peace" in the Middle East, eventually coming to the breaking point when Israeli commandos killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American during a May 31 raid on an aid ship trying to break the blockade of Gaza.

Erdogan’s government also has built close ties with Iran, Israel’s nemesis, and pushed for a diplomatic solution to a dispute between the West and Tehran over the latter’s nuclear program.

Commenting on the Turkish premier’s career, the website mentioned Erdogan’s stance in Davos, Turkey’s contribution to efforts to remedy political problems in Iraq and Afghanistan and his acting as a mediator between Iran and the world, as well as Turkey’s efforts to solve problems between Syria and Lebanon.