A biography for Recep Tayyip Erdoganhasn’t been written yet.
“I have already said that I find the coalition air strikes to be insufficient. A ground intervention will be necessary to overcome Daesh.”
“Turkey will be in Cyprus forever.”
“If the European Union wants to be an address where civilizations meet, it must take Turkey in.”
“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.”
“We have extradited terrorists to the United States in the past. And we expect the same thing to be done by the United States.”
“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.”
“Being in the European Union, we would be building bridges between the 1.5 bn people of Muslim world to the non-Muslim world. They have to see this. If they ignore it, it brings weakness to the E.U.”
“There is no difference, where aims are concerned, between a terrorist with a gun and bomb in his hand and a terrorist who has dollars, euros, and interest rates.”
“Nazism is still widespread in the West.”
“What should be targeted is a concept of organic, and not just mechanic, democracy that preserves the rule of law, separation of powers, and that is participatory and pluralistic.”
“The US and the European Union needs to help in the translation of the demand for democracy into a political will.”
“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.”
“There is no Kurdish problem.”
“The purpose cannot be creating self-styled democracies, but rather encouraging steps that are conducive to establishing democratic rule at universal standards. Obviously, this would be a formidable journey.”
“I consider personally the election of Barack Hussein Obama to have very great symbolic meaning. A Muslim and a Christian name - so in his name there is a synthesis, although people from time to time want to overlook that, and they do it intentionally.”
“Democracy is like a streetcar. When you come to your stop, you get off.”
“We, as Turkey, call on Europe to respect human rights and democracy.”
“Time to time I get together with the rabbis, with religious leaders, leaders of congregations, and I talk to them, and wherever a need arises, we do everything we can to meet those needs.”
“Therefore, the observation must be explicitly made: In the Middle East and in the Muslim world, suspicions linger concerning the objectives of the West and notably the US.”
“Your targets can only be realized on the basis of dreams.”