88 Quotes by Turkish authors

Turkish sayings carry hüzün and hope in the same breath, folding tenderness and irony into everyday speech. Their voices come from tea-glass clinks in crowded kitchens, from the saz’s tremble, from ferry decks watching the Bosphorus darken. Themes of sabır, kısmet, loyalty, and hospitality shape a moral weather: gentle yet unsparing, witty yet devout. Sufi echoes meet streetwise humor, village earth meets city fog, and love, stubborn, patient, learns to dance with fate.

See the complete list of authors from Turkey

"At first, my publisher had reservations about publishing it in the form you are familiar with"

Orhan Pamuk, Novelist

"Similarly, gender-equality, supremacy of law, political participation, civil society, and transparency are among the indispensable elements that are the imperatives of democratization"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"Several experts on the Middle East concur that the Middle East cannot be democratized"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"I really don't want to portray the Islamists as simply evil, the way it's often done in the West"

Orhan Pamuk, Novelist

"Everyone should unconditionally accept that Israel is an indispensable element of the Middle Eastern mosaic"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"There exists an unmistakable demand in the Middle East and in the wider Muslim world for democratization"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"The US and the European Union needs to help in the translation of the demand for democracy into a political will"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"The Muslim world and its subset, the countries of the Middle East, have been left behind in the marathon of political, economic and human development. For that, there is a tendency to blame others as the primary cause"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"The foundations of democratic transition should be laid in accordance with a sincere and committed strategy that is supported by various policy tools, and implemented wisely"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"The advanced levels which the democratic world has attained at the end of lengthy processes may have created the perception in the region that democracy is a distant concept; this perception can be addressed"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"Paramount is the need to secure human rights. The form of rule should be such that the citizen does not have to fear the State, but gives it direction and confidently participates in its administration"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"It is essential that policy instruments be developed that would firmly establish democratization on the basis of social consensus and enable transformation on stable grounds"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"However, democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"But foremost, I do not subscribe to the view that Islamic culture and democracy cannot be reconciled"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"A lasting solution to this problem will have an exceptionally positive influence foremost on the peoples of Palestine and Israel, as well as on the region and the international community"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"Even in the Western world, one cannot argue that the ideal has been achieved given the existence of issues like the integration, participation and representation of Muslim citizens, and occasional but lingering anti-Semitism"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"As a politician who cherishes religious conviction in his personal sphere, but regards politics as a domain belonging outside religion, I believe that this view is seriously flawed"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"It is obvious that putting the Arab-Israeli dispute on a resolution track would be an important element of overcoming the confidence problem in the region"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"Invariably, also a Palestinian state should live side by side with Israel within recognized and secure borders, and the security and prosperity of the Palestinian people must be guaranteed"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"I am aware of the thesis that the United States has long since invested exclusively in stability, and this has obviated democratic transformation in the Middle East"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"Even as we ought to accept that each country would progress with a different method and speed toward that goal, the standard for the expected end-state should not be lowered"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"A confidence problem exists on the part of the people of the region who desire democratic rule in principle, but remain suspicious of both the fashion with which democratization is presented and the purposes of the democratic world"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"I take the debate on the method of promoting democracy seriously"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"I regard the endorsement of both the objective and a method - which can differ from one country to another - of democratization by the parties in the region as a basic requisite of democratization in the Middle East"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"A fitting external security environment could also play an important role in promoting social consensus and institutionalization towards democratization"

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

"Unless we abandon elements which resemble a police state, we can't meet the demands of being a modern society"

Ahmet Necdet Sezner, President

Ahmet Necdet Sezner

"The Muslim world is deeply hurt by the campaign of violence initiated against our Palestinian brothers"

Ahmet Necdet Sezner, President

Ahmet Necdet Sezner

"Freedom of belief and worship is the most important guarantee of social peace"

Ahmet Necdet Sezner, President

Ahmet Necdet Sezner

"We have in the last two years, we have passed 350 legislation in the parliament, most of which deal with democratization, human rights, and of course, economy"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"So we are fulfilling our task in preventing serious armament stocks in Iraq within our possibilities"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"But if too many countries, as has been the case, interfere too much in the internal affairs, the political situation of Afghanistan, then, of course, we can't hope satisfactory results"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"But if we leave them alone, just satisfying ourselves with social work, economic work and the building up of a national army, it can make progress, hopefully within a short time"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"Ataturk sent several Turkish staff officers to Afghanistan, helped them build their own army"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"We shouldn't waste any more time in making sure that democracy is properly rooted in our political life and the supremacy of the law becomes an integral part of our state's structure"

Ahmet Necdet Sezner, President

Ahmet Necdet Sezner

"Resorting to violence and the use of force at holy sites is unacceptable, whatever the reason might be"

Ahmet Necdet Sezner, President

Ahmet Necdet Sezner

"Well, that our main concern is that Iraq should not become a divided country"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"I suggested that we had experience in helping other countries build their military forces, and we would be willing and happy to do the same for Afghanistan, together with the United States"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"And the separatist terrorist organization, PKK, had easy access to Turkey to, inside Turkey"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"It can be rebuilt if other countries with selfish interests will not meddle, as has been done in the past"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

"And it is essential that in fighting terrorism, sacrifices should not be made on democracy"

Bulent Ecevit, Politician

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