Ankara’s early reaction to the developments in Egypt could be in Turkey’s interest; the regime change in Egypt would undoubtedly raise Turkey’s growing prestige on the Arab streets, Professor Mensur Akgun stated.

Mubarak resigned as president and handed control to the military after 29 years in power, bowing to a historic 18-day wave of pro-democracy demonstrations by hundreds of thousands, The Associated Press reported.

Amid speculation that the crisis in Egypt was bringing a rivalry for regional leadership between Turkey and Egypt out in the open, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s calls for Mubarak to go immediately have been well-received by the Egyptian activists gathered in Cairo’s central Tahrir (Liberation) Square.

“Turkey will benefit from the position it has adopted on the uprising in Egypt. The prime minister will not keep the points in his pocket alone. That demonstrates that Turkish politics are being embraced by the countries in the region,” said Akgun.

Support for Turkey in the Arab world increased by 5 percent points in 2010, up from 75 percent in 2009, according to a recent survey, Akgun said.

The Arab response to Erdogan’s support for the Egyptian protesters’ demands does not necessarily mean, however, that there is an endorsement of Turkey’s regional leadership, said Recep Boztemur, head of the Middle East Studies Center at Middle East Technical University. “These are two separate issues,” he noted. “Prime Minister Erdogan has been addressing the populace. He did this during the government crisis in Lebanon last month and also in the Egypt crisis. However, receiving public support and playing a leadership role are two different things,” Hurriyet Daily News cited him as saying.