Turkey is now a country of opportunity, rather than one of crises, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday evening in an address to the nation.

Over the past four years, Turkey has achieved political and economic stability and the government had worked to compensate for the years that had been lost, Erdogan said.

Turkey's economic recovery over the recent years had seen a dramatic decline in inflation rates and the charting of a stable course of economic growth.

"We have reduced inflation rates to single digit figures for the first time in more than 30 years and maintained a stable and uninterrupted course of economic growth over the last 19 quarters," Erdogan said. "Our target is to make Turkey one of 10 biggest economies of the world by the time our Republic reaches its 100th anniversary."

Turkey had also become a respectable country regarding rights and freedoms and had made great progress in international relations and economic ties, he said "As you know, a signing ceremony was held in Tbilisi a while ago for the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway project," he said.

"This time, the historical Silk Road will be revived as a railway route. After it is finalised, the railway will become a strategic transportation corridor from Asia to Europe via Turkey. This project is of great importance since it will make valuable contributions to relations among peoples in a huge geography extending from Asia to Europe and to the efforts of consolidating the environment of friendship and peace in the world."

Erdogan said that Turkey has been trying to fulfil its responsibilities in order to bring peace in the Middle East, which he said would have a key role in efforts to resolve global problems.

"Our meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during his visit to Turkey have confirmed our correctness," he said. "We told Mr. Olmert that formation of a powerful administration in Palestine was essential to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Turkey will continue extending full support to the Middle East peace process. Our goal is to consolidate the environment of peace, and take all kinds of steps to prevent any attempts that could escalate tension in the region. We hope that we will begin yielding tangible results of our efforts soon." NTV MSNBC