With international headlines yesterday like "For first time in almost a century," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statement on sharing in the Armenians' suffering was a sharp detour from Turkey's existing policy of ignoring the events that took place in 1915. It has thrown a curveball ahead of the Turkish presidential election to be held later this year. The astounding and pleasing announcement cannot be considered a surprise in the scope of wider policies working toward a "new Turkey." Primarily, the new Turkey's policy may be summarized as returning to its old geographic and geopolitical area and taking its place in the top league among world's countries.

Turkey focused on the establishment of a new state in 1923. It acted like someone who once lived in a large house and suddenly moved into a small house. This is what happened to Turkey after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. This can be comprehended within the context of external conditions and the environment of a country that was weary of battle. However, in the following years, Turkey got used to living with its small agenda.

The narrowed circle turned Turkey into a country that was squashed between great powers. The vision for the new Turkey, which began with the AK Party, includes disregarding the recent past and returning to Turkey's historical mission. While small countries are busy with their empty internal agendas, great powers solve their problems reasonably. The AK Party's new Turkey vision is based on the European experience.

With the new Turkey perspective, Turkey is focusing primarily on solving complicated problems to reflect its great power. It started with development projects on a massive scale to ensure Turkey's place among the world's first-class countries, along with a number of economic reforms by using the European Union membership process as leverage.

It posed a political perception aiming to break the heavy bureaucratic influence on citizens. Added to this strategy are the AK Party's liberal economic policies aimed toward strengthening the economy and paving the way for entrepreneurs and investors.

All these reforms aim to make Turkey a great power and focus on solving problems in advance by taking the initiative, instead of being a country that drifts between geo-strategic waves in external policy.

The Armenian question was one of the problematic areas that always posed an obstacle for Turkey to be a reputable country on the world stage. It was not possible for Turkey to become a respectable country had it continued its traditional nation state policies. To achieve its goal of respect among the league of nations, it was essential to have a worldranking economy, a first-class democracy and a state policy at peace with its people.

After coming into power, the AK Party appointed this vision. This policy, known as the 2023 vision, aims to make the Republic of Turkey a first-class country by its 100th anniversary. While the world was struggling with the economic crisis, Turkey became resistant to external economic shocks.

As result of political reforms, Turkey's third-class democracy became a first-class democracy. The AK Party adopted a policy that made the people real guardians of the state. Making peace with the peoples in the Middle East, Turkey became the most important actor in the region.

It was not possible to solve the Armenian question through nationalist reflections, which only create emotional breakdowns. The statement made by the prime minister was a reflection of Turkey being a great state. After the Dec. 17 operation, some believed we would watch the collapse of an empire. But on the contrary, we are watching an empire rise from the ashes.