In 2002 when the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came into power, international discourse was dominated by the "New World Order" that emerged from the seemingly unipolar system of the post-Cold War period. While Prime Minister Abdullah Gül was in power, the U.S. was invading Iraq in an illegitimate war and Turkey was faced with the Memorandum of March 1, a trial regarding Turkey's involvement in the Iraq war, which the National Assembly promptly rejected.While that rejection was interpreted as a truly democratic and prudent political position in the Arab world and continental Europe, the U.S. seemed extremely disappointed with the result. Turkey's foreign policy-makers struggled to mend Turkish-American relations, which appeared wounded and weakened in the memorandum rejection.Since the AK Party came to political power, Turkey has worked to ameliorate relations with neighboring countries in the Balkans, Africa, the Middle East and even Caucasia by simultaneously deviating from the country's conventional Cold War foreign policy codes. As a result, Turkey and neighboring countries have reaped the benefits of such active foreign policy, prioritizing stability and fostering development in the regional sphere of influence.While a vast number of social-democratic European leaders made significant contributions to the acceleration of the accession process, Turkey's candidacy had been supported by the U.S. and the U.K. As an Islamic country with a democratic system of government, Turkey appeared to be the sole political model of success for the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA). Notably, U.S. President Barack Obama gave speeches in both Egypt and Turkey immediately after his electoral triumph in which the president-elect praised Turkey for being a center of democracy in the Islamic world. Immediately after his electoral triumph, the president praised Turkey as the democratic center of the Muslim world. I believe that Turkey's appearance as a model for democracy in the Islamic world is one of the triggering dynamics behind the Arab Spring.Everything has begun with the Arab Spring:The transition from dictatorships to democracy, as we have seen in countries like Tunisia and Egypt, has become a pivotal, driving force that is now influencing the entire MENA region. Yet, the Arab Spring faced threats by way of counter-revolutions; namely, in Tunisia, the Ennahdha Party has shown prudence under the leadership of Rached Ghannouchi in defeating the counter-revolution, while dictatorship has been reinstated in Egypt through military intervention. Just a few months before the attempted coup d'état in Turkey on July 15, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan underlined the significance of laicism for Egypt and defended the elected government, denouncing the putschists. That was the first sign of what was to come in the increasing tension between Turkey and her Western allies.In the beginning of the Syrian civil war, the Western forces seemed to be in agreement with Turkey, which supported the legitimate demands of the Syrian people for democracy, freedom and prosperity. Yet, in a short amount of time, the Syrian crisis has driven a wedge not only between Turkey and her Western allies but also between Turkey, Iran, and Russia. What's worse was that the Mavi Marmara crisis with Israel seriously damaged Turkish-Israeli relations.In the last few years, Erdoğan has begun to govern not only internally but also directly, paying attention to the external affairs of the country. Erdoğan did not make any irreparable mistakes, while the public support for his leadership is still comprised of more than 60 percent of the Turkish electorate, which is 10 percent more than the AK Party's electoral base.