Blair: "Turkey one of the most interesting countries in the world"

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the outside world was focusing on Turkey in a way that has never happened before as the country has been progressing with confidence. "Turkey has a claim right now. It's one of the most interesting countries of the world, maybe the most interesting one. It has extraordinary economic potential; it has a critical position in the world; it has very talented people," Blair said yesterday at a conference at Istanbul Bilgi University addressing students, faculty and members of the press. "The change in Turkey is part of a changing world," he said, and added that the role of Turkey and how it positions itself economically and politically was very important. Comparing the world of yesterday that has grown to the world of today, Blair said, the power has shifted. "The world I grew up in was dominated by America and Europe. Today power has shifted to the East." The former prime minister then talked about China's "rise" and the "speed of that rise," which he termed as "transformative." Blair also touched on the developments in the Middle East