Turkish Premier Erdogan - one of "World's most Influental people"

World's leading news magazine TIME has named Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as one of the most influential people in the world.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan was ranked the 17th in the "Leaders" section of the TIME magazine's "2010 TIME 100: The World's Most Influential People" list.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was at the top of the list, followed by ACER's CEO J.T. Wang, head of the U.S. Chief of General Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and U.S. President Barack Obama.

Publishing brief profiles of the selected leaders on its web-site, the magazine wrote about Erdogan, "Turkey's prime minister is a survivor. A devout Muslim and tough-talking former soccer player, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 56, rose to prominence in 1994 as mayor of Istanbul - a city on whose streets he once sold buns to make ends meet".

Commenting on different phases of the Turkish prime minister's political career, the magazine said Erdogan founded Justice and Development (AK) Party on a pro-West, probusiness platform in 2001.

"First elected Prime Minister in 2003, he won re-election four years later and has used his second term to seek a sometimes controversial global role as spokesman for the Muslim world," TIME said.

"He has become openly critical of Israel - despite ties between the two nations - has urged dealings with Hamas and opposes U.S. calls for sanctions on Iran. As the head of NATO's only Muslim member nation and a vibrant secular democracy, Erdogan has the potential to reshape a restive region," the magazine also said.

Below are 2010's 25 most influential leaders according to TIME magazine:

1- Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

2- J.T. Wang

3- Admiral Mike Mullen

4- Barack Obama

5- Ron Bloom

6- Yukio Hatoyama

7- Dominique Strauss-Kahn

8- Nancy Pelosi

9- Sarah Palin

10- Salam Fayyad

11- Jon Kyl

12- Glenn Beck

13- Annise Parker

14- Tidjane Thiam

15- Jenny Beth Martin

16- Christine Lagarde

17- Recep Tayyip Erdogan

18- General Stanley McChrystal

19- Manmohan Singh

20- Bo Xilai

21- Mark Carney

22- Sister Carol Keehan

23- Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan

24- Robin Li

25- Scott Brown


/Trend/