Erdogan's "Arab Spring" Tour Under Way--But Don't Expect To See Him On A Horse

Turkish Prime Minister has arrived in Egypt as part of his "Arab Spring" tour.

Now, in an effort to really capitalize on his media coverage, Erdogan is again talking about taking advantage of his Egypt visit to go into Gaza:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives in Egypt tonight on the first leg of a regional tour that will include Tunisia and Libya. Erdogan has also expressed a desire to visit Gaza as part of the trip to show solidarity with the enclave’s 1.5 million residents living under blockade since 2007.

Analysts say the visit would challenge Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory and further inflame already tense relations between Turkey and Israel. But that's not all. It would also likely embarrass Egyptian authorities by drawing attention to Egypt and Turkey's divergent reactions to their respective diplomatic crises with Israel: Turkey's prime minister will be visiting the same territory that its citizens were killed trying to reach in a flotilla last year, while Egypt's government continues the Gaza blockade to this day. Six Egyptian border guards were killed near the Egypt-Israel border last month by Israeli forces chasing militants who had attacked a bus near Eilat, leaving eight Israelis dead.

Bottom line of course, the trip to Egypt is not about embarrassing his Egyptian hosts--Erdogan's trip is all about the media coverage and how the media is going to portray him:

With calls growing louder in Egypt for the government to scrap its historic peace treaty with Israel, it is almost certain that the Turkish premier will receive a hero's welcome when he lands in Egypt. Many revolutionaries in Cairo see him as an assertive and iconic leader, capable of helping Egyptians - and Arabs - win back their lost dignity after decades of living under failed Arab regimes.

It's all about image.

And that is why, when Erdgogan does travel in Egypt and throughout the Middle East on his 'tour', it is unlikely he will will be travelling by horse.

Personally, I'm looking forward to hearing how the Million-Man welcome for Erdogan in Egypt goes:

A new Facebook campaign was launched today to hold a million man rally to celebrate the arrival of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Cairo on September 13.

So far:

Over 3,000 bloggers committed to attend the rally to receive Erdogan and another 12,000 pledged to participate if available.

All they need now is 985,000 more.

Technorati Tag: Erdogan.