Blair: "Turkey has the right to take a wide range of measures to protect its people from terrorism"

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now a special envoy for the Middle East Quartet, yesterday met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Speaking to Sabah daily about the recent terrorist PKK attacks, Blair said that he supports and understands Turkey taking stronger measures to fight terrorism. "Turkey has the right to take a wide range of measures to protect its people from terrorism," he said, urging the international community to give Turkey more support in its fight against the terrorist PKK. Touching on Turkey's rising profile and importance in recent years, he also said, "Today both the West and the Islamic world are showing more interest in Turkey."