Arab nations burst into applause Thursday as Turkey's prime minister walked to the podium at a summit, reflecting Turkey's meteoric rise on the world stage amid disputes over Israel's blockade of Gaza and U.N. sanctions against Iran.
The Turkish-Arab Economic Forum opened with calls for an international investigation into the May 31 Israeli commando raid on aid ships bound for Gaza, a topic emphasized by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"Are we going to remain silent over the murder of nine people? We can't turn a blind eye to this banditry in international waters," Erdogan told the Turkish-Arab Economic Forum. "From now on, this can't continue as it is."
Arab league chief Amr Moussa also accused Israel’s continued "atrocity and assault" in violation of human rights and international law and praised Turkey for challenging Israel on the raid that left eight Turkish activists and a Turkish-American teenager dead.
Israel insists its commandoes acted in self-defense after being attacked by pro-Palestinian activists on the aid ships.
Moussa said the nine dead "are our martyrs as well."
Turkey's popularity in the Muslim world has surged as it led the world in condemning Israel for the raid on ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza. Turkey - a non-Arab, predominantly Muslim country - also won favor among Arab allies for objecting to new sanctions against Iran, which the U.N. Security Council passed Wednesday after rejecting an Iranian nuclear fuel swap-deal brokered by Ankara.
"Arms, embargoes and exclusion are not working," Erdogan said, adding that the world was paying a heavy price as a result of such policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. "There are hundreds of thousands of widows, who will account for this? There are orphans, who will account for this? Those who turn this geography into this (mess) have to be held accountable."
Erdogan, however, said his country would still work to keep the nuclear swap-deal Turkey brokered to resolve the Iranian dispute on the table.
He strongly rejected allegations in the West that Turkey was shifting toward the East, describing such claims as "evil intentioned" and attempts to prevent Turkey from establishing relations with the Arab world.
Erdogan pointed to French investments in Syria and other Arab countries, adding: "But when it comes to Turkey investing in Arab countries or vice versa, a dirty propaganda is trying to impede this process."
"Those who say that Turkey has broken away from the West are the intermediaries of an ill-intentioned propaganda," he said.
"We are open to all parts of the world. We are not open to one and closed to another," he insisted.
Many in Turkey and the West are concerned that NATO's sole mainly Muslim member is sliding away, pointing at a severe crisis with Israel over its bloody raid on aid ships last week and Turkey's "no" vote on fresh sanctions against Iran Wednesday.