Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair praised Turkish President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his newly published memoir, "A Journey."
In the book, which was released Wednesday, Blair describes his memories of the decade spanning from 1997 to 2007, when he was the British prime minister. Blair has several opinions regarding Turkey.
In the section detailing the year 2005, when Turkey finally entered full membership accession negotiations with the EU, Blair said the country was taking important steps toward Europe.
He said Erdoğan, and then-Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, were sensitive and foresighted people, adding that it was easier for him to engage with Erdoğan and Gül than other Turkish politicians he knew. Blair said Erdoğan and Gül were wise and knew what they wanted.
"Furthermore they were logical on the Cyprus issue," he said.
Blair said Turkey's EU membership would take time. "The EU has already enlarged and [more] time is needed to digest this [potential further] enlargement," he said. Stressing that he favored Turkish EU membership, Blair said it would be dangerous to push Turkey away from Europe as doing so would signal that Judeo-Christian and Muslim civilizations cannot exist together, he said.
In a footnote, meanwhile, Blair said global power and influence had been shifting to the east.
