Turkey as Neutral Mediator in Cartoon Row ?

The Austrian Presidency has invited Turkey to mediate in the conflict over the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. This seems a bit odd because Turkey has already made its position clear about the cartoons and a mediator is meant to be an independant neutral third party in a conflict between other parties. Earlier this month Mr. Gul said that the publishing of the cartoons were a sign of "disrespect against the Prophet Mohammed" and he also protested against the "style of this disrespect". He also added that certain parts of the media saw this whole series of events as a test-case for freedom of expression and that "We have also observed an inclination to make use of the situation to probe the patience of the Islamic world and their conceptualization of freedom. Such cultural arrogance on the part of any culture or civiliza…