In the decade since the Justice and Development Party assumed power, Turkey has become a much more assertive foreign-policy player. And when it comes to projecting soft power, the government clearly views the Turkish Red Crescent Society as an important component.

Despite having reportedly provided training grounds for armed Syrian opposition forces... Turkey claims to have maintained its overall soft power policy vis-à-vis Syria. Throughout the 17-month uprising in Syria, Turkey provided humanitarian assistance to refugees, diplomatic support to the opposition and helped escalate pressures on the President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Turkish Energy Ministry officials confirmed Wednesday that Ankara is preparing to send a technical delegation to Iraq, supposedly at Baghdad's request, to discuss building an oil pipeline linking southern Iraq and Turkey. The decision is an important indicator that Ankara is ready to make strategic energy moves to deepen its influence in the region, says Stratfor.

According to the Brand Finance, Turkey is in the top ten fastest growing brand between other nations. According to their "Nation Brand" research, Turkey boosted its brand value 114 billion USD comparing to last year and leaving Poland, Austria, Belgium, Greece and several other European Union (EU) countries behind.

Turkey, in the era of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is playing a regional and global rule that has filled its leaders with pride and ambition.

Prof Davutoglu in effect argues that Turkey is able to exercise soft power in its region because of the very qualities the founders of the Turkish Republic in 1923 tried to cast aside. The nation’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, famously tried to draw a line under a stale and unprofitable historical legacy in order to play catch-up with the west.

Can Turkey play a role in the Arab Spring?... Yes, because Turkey has developed newfound soft power in the Middle East. Over the past decade, Ankara has painstakingly built influence in the region by fostering business networks and establishing state-of-the-art high schools to educate the future Arab elite.