Leadership Quote by Recep Tayyip Erdogan

“Even in the Western world” is doing the heavy lifting here: it frames the West as a self-appointed tutor on pluralism, then punctures the claim to moral completion. Erdogan’s phrasing is lawyerly, almost bureaucratic - “integration, participation and representation” reads like the checklist of a rights report - but the intent is plainly political. He’s not praising Western self-critique; he’s exploiting its unfinished business to weaken its authority to judge others.

The structure is strategic. “One cannot argue that the ideal has been achieved” sounds modest, even reasonable, while “given the existence of issues like…” turns a moral principle into an inventory of failures. Naming Muslims first is not accidental. It positions Muslim citizens as the decisive test case for Western democracy, implying that Islamophobia (or cultural exclusion) is not an aberration but a systemic flaw. Then comes “occasional but lingering anti-Semitism,” a second, carefully calibrated example: familiar enough to Western audiences to be undeniable, softened by “occasional” so it reads as fair-minded rather than inflammatory.

The subtext is a demand for symmetry. If Western states are still wrestling with inclusion and prejudice, Erdogan suggests, they should lower the volume on lecturing Turkey about democracy, minority rights, or secularism. It’s also a bid for solidarity with Muslim diasporas: a reminder that their marginalization can be interpreted as a geopolitical issue, not just a domestic one.

Context matters because Erdogan’s presidency has often met Western criticism over press freedom, judicial independence, and nationalist rhetoric. This line attempts to shift the courtroom: from Turkey as defendant to the West as a witness with credibility problems.