Gul and Davutoglu receive Blair

President Abdullah Gul yesterday hosted former British Prime Minister and Middle East quartet envoy Tony Blair. Speaking at the meeting, Blair said that Turkey's role in the region has been going through a historical transformation and that Turkey, where Islam, democracy and welfare come together on the same platform, was considerably attractive to countries in the region. Blair also provided Gul with information on the impact of transformation process, which has occurred in the region as part of the Arab Spring, on the negotiations which are aimed at finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying that both Israel and Palestine have been displaying a more positive stance in terms of initiating the peace talks. Speaking in his part, President Gul said that the synergy created in the region thanks to the Arab Spring should be utilized to strengthen hopes for peace and that it would be greatly useful to create a consensus among Palestinians and initiate peace talks based on the Arab Peace Initiative. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also met with Blair yesterday. Reportedly, the Middle East peace process and the recognition of Palestine as a state by the UN were discussed at the meeting.