The next major Muslim power will be Turkey.

My first round will analyze basic long-term advantages that Turkey has, and the state of the Middle East. I will save any critique of Pakistan until after he has made his case. Turkey's situation.1. Geography. Turkey is located at a crossroads between Europe and Asia. It has direct access to Mesopotamia, Syria, the Caucasus, Iran, Greece, and Eastern Europe, in addition to having large areas with access to the Mediterranean and Black seas and controlling the only conduit between the two bodies of water. This also gives it easy access to Russia and to the rest of the world. Turkey's postion between Europe and some of the largest energy suppliers in the world gives it strategic leverage.2. Economy. Turkey's economy is largely developed; it is currently the world's 17th largest economy [1. . http://www.turks.us...]. It is Europe's fastest growing economy and the Middle East's third fastest growing economy with a GDP growth of 8.5%, the eighth highest in the world [3. . http://en.wikipedia.org...(latest_year) #Central_Europe. ] What is remarkable about this is that extremely high GDP growth is normally found in developing countries that have not matured economically (that's why Qatar and UAE beat it). Turkey also has well developed transportation and infastructure that can support significant economic progress [4. . http://www.cdfai.org...]. 3. Military. Turkey has one of the best militaries in the world. It has the second largest army in NATO [5. . http://english.sabah.com.tr...], the third largest air force (behind the US and UK) [6. . http://en.wikipedia.org...], and the eighth largest air force in the world [7. . http://www.turkeydefence.com...]. The military is modernized and and has recently been utilized in Syria and Iraq. The state of the Middle East. Mesopotamia. This region is currently in chaos. The British and French created new states from territory captured from the Ottomans and gave them artificial borders, without regard to ethnicity, culture, religion, or geographical fault lines. This has proven highly unstable. Iraq, for instance, is divided between the Kurds, the Sunni Arabs, and the Shiites [8. . http://en.wikipedia.org...]. Saddam Hussein retained control through Sunni support, and also enforced his rule with a personality cult, political repression, and ethnic cleansing [9. . http://en.wikipedia.org...]. Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon are also "artificial states" and have no national bond. Egypt. Egypt has a more potential, but its economy is currently reeling from the 2011 military coup. GDP growth has fallen to 1.8%, and the poverty rate is 20% [10. . http://en.wikipedia.org...]. It is also facing overpopulation [11. . http://www.rand.org...] which has resulted in unemployment and low education opportunities (one in four Egyptians are illiterate). They have essentially lived under military rule for the past few decades. Egypt is not a major competitor for dominance in the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia. An unstable country ruled over by an unpopular family [12. . http://www.viewpointonline.net...] that is not geopolitically important aside from its oil reserves and is threatened by Iran's ability to blockade the strait of Hormuz. It has potential, but only as far as natural gas and oil prices rise. Not a big threat to Turkish expansion. Iran. Iran is most certainly the biggest opponent of Turkey in the Middle East. It has built a sphere of influence to its west but is alienated from most of the Muslim world due to its Shiite faith. It is gaining influence over Iraq due to internal squabbling in the country and support from its Shiite majority there [13. . http://www.stratfor.com...], as well as controlling Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria before the civil war. Syria is Iran's current political target. The Sunnis want to establish an Islamic government on the ashes of the old, and Iran will lose its client state if that happens. Thus they unconditionally back Assad and supply him with weapons while Turkey does the opposite. Regardless of the outcome, Iran will likely never fall under the Turkish sphere of influence. The best the Turks will ever be able to do is contain them. Even so, Iran has been politically unstable for years and the economy is in short-term danger due to sanctions. Opposition from the Sunni Arab world will not allow them to build a long-term empire. Turkey's goals. Turkey has recently began attempting to appear friendlier with the Arab world by supporting the Gaza flotillas and resisting Iranian advance. They have often militarily intervened in Syria and Iraq, and it is very natural that they should gain influence. In addition to being the economic and military powerhouse of the Muslim world, they have none of the instability and division seen across the rest of the Middle East. As its economy grows, foreign nations will welcome Turkish hegemony becuase the outsourcing of jobs and trade with the country will help their own weak economies. Turkey is highly dependent on foreign oil and natural gas, which mostly comes from Russia [14. . http://www.eia.gov...]. Three-quarters of the world's oil, however, lies in the weak and unstable regions right on Turkey's doorstep. Turkey will undoubtedly wean itself off of dependence on Russian oil by gaining control over these markets and blocking Iran's access to them. This is one of its main geopolitical goals. I will cover these topics more throughly as my opponent addresses them. It is Con's turn.