But on a windswept hilltop along the coast a few miles south of the capital, Mogadishu, a giant, almost ludicrously neat, brand new tented camp for displaced families stands as a monument to what foreigners can achieve here with the right approach.

Turkey by now lives more or less independently from the strict austerity measures as demanded by International Monetary Fund (IMF) funding and standbys. It has managed to steer clear of formerly necessary, but no longer required, “external” monetary management.

The vote for change on June 12 has created a window of opportunity for both the new government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the EU to show that they are still committed to Turkey obtaining full membership in the EU.

Economic growth and the emergence of a middle class that benefited from globalization, capitalism and democratic openings differentiate Turkey from the autocratic Middle East. Turkey is also blessed by the absence of vast oil and gas resources.