Foreign policy of the Recep Tayyip Erdoğan government by the international community, both at the institutional and civil society levels, to bridge divides and overcome prejudice, misconceptions, misperceptions, and polarization which potentially threaten world peace, was initiated by Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain, co-sponsored by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. During the visit of Prime Minister Zapatero to Turkey in November 2006, on the occasion of the Alliance of Civilizations initiative, a Strategy Paper aimed at further strengthening Turkish-Spanish bilateral relations was signed by the two Prime Ministers. Turkey's Prime Minister Erdoğan was the first world leader to call for Egyptian leader Hosni
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero the opinion polls elaborated at the time foreseen a defeat for Zapatero, as they always predicted a new victory for the People's Party. The campaign for the General Election started a fortnight before 14 March 2004. Polls favoured the People's Party, with some polls predicting a possible repeat of their absolute majority. Previously, on 8 January 2004, Zapatero had created a Committee of Notables composed of 10 highly qualified experts with considerable political weight. Its mission was to help him to become prime minister. Among its members: José Bono (his ex-rival for the Secretaryship of the party and later appointed