Mick Hartley

Well, this is all very cosy: more evidence, despite the ritual denials, of the future Turkey sees for itself under Prime Minister Erdogan. From Istanbul:

Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria agreed Thursday to set up a free trade zone, complete with a visa-free travel regime for their nationals, a joint declaration issued here said.

The four countries will establish a cooperation council "to develop a long-term strategic partnership" and "create a zone of free movement of goods and persons among our countries," it said.

The deal was agreed by the foreign ministers of the four countries who met on the sidelines of a Turkish-Arab Economic Forum in Istanbul.

The free trade zone will be based on "existing bilateral agreements and practices on free trade and visa exemption" between the parties, the statement said, adding that Turkey and Lebanon were required to complete a bilateral arrangement before the four-way process could go ahead.

"The quadripartite mechanism … will be open to the participation of all the other brotherly and friendly countries in the region," it said.

I wonder if Israel counts as a "brotherly and friendly country". Well, OK, no I don't.

Turkey's Islamist-rooted government, in power since 2002, has significantly improved ties with the Arab world, often neglected in the past amid the country's traditionally pro-Western orientation. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu dismissed suggestions that Turkey's growing ties with Eastern neighbors represented a search for an alternative to the country's struggling bid to join the European Union. The free trade zone "is not an alternative to the EU." "Turkey is determined to become a full member of the European Union," he told reporters.

But Davutoglu said Turkey was equally determined to boost economic cooperation with the Arab world to the highest level possible. "We want a vehicle to leave from Turkey and reach Morocco without stopping at any border gates," he said.

In a speech to delegates at the forum, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the imposition of UN sanctions on Iran a "mistake" and said that Turkey and Brazil would continue to seek a diplomatic solution to remove concerns over Iran's nuclear program.

Turkey and Brazil, both non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, were the only members of the 15-strong Council to vote Wednesday against the imposition of new sanctions against Iran. Lebanon abstained.  […]

The forum opened with calls for an international investigation into the May 31 Israeli commando raid on aid ships bound for Gaza. "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 said. "This can't continue as it is."

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also accused Israel of continued "atrocity and assault" in violation of human rights and international law, and praised Turkey for challenging Israel on the raid. Moussa said the nine dead "are our martyrs as well."

For more on Turkey and Brazil, see this from Walter Russell Mead.