Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quotes

I am a person who is inclined to define relations between individuals based on principles.

According to this view, democracy is a product of western culture, and it cannot be applied to the Middle East which has a different cultural, religious, sociological and historical background.

I went back in British history. Some 204 people died there after a mine collapsed in 1838. In 1866, 361 miners died in Britain. In an explosion in 1894, 290 people died there ... These are usual things.

It is impossible to preserve my friendship with people who are allegedly leaders when they are attacking their own people, shooting at them, using tanks and other forms of heavy weaponry.

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.

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.

Obviously some states are allowed to have weapons of mass destruction while others are not.

I don't want to use the term "nuclear weapons" because those people in Iran who have authority say they are not building nuclear weapons. I make an appeal to the countries who do have nuclear weapons. They don't consider them a nuclear threat. But let's say a country that doesn't have nuclear weapons gets involved in building them, then they are told by those that already have nuclear weapons that they oppose [such a development]. Where is the justice in that?

There is now a scourge that is called Twitter

We will not leave this nation at the mercy of YouTube and Facebook

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

My own daughters weren't able to study in Turkey because of their headscarves, so they went to the United States.

We have taken a strategic decision to gather education activities under a single roof.

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

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.

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.

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.

The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society.

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

My legal bond with the A.K.P. may have ended the day I took the presidential oath of office, but my bonds of love have never ended and never will.

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.

Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have to respect the Turkish Republic's laws

The whole world is an open, free market. No state can exist without the others.

The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers ...

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.

There is no Kurdish problem.

If during their education our youths become alienated from their language, history, ancestors, culture and civilization, it means there is a very serious educational problem there.

When there is no such thing as religious culture and moral education, serious social problems such as drug addiction and racism fill the gap.

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.

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.

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.

We are against the majority tyrannizing the minority. But we are definitely against the minority tyrannizing the majority.

There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that's it

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

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.

You cannot put women and men on an equal footing. It is against nature. They were created differently. Their nature is different. She should not laugh loudly in front of all the world and should preserve her decency at all times.

Therefore, the question is not whether such democratization is possible, but instead how to meet the yearning of the masses in the Middle East for democracy; in other words, how to achieve democratization in the Middle East.

They cry press freedom, but (the raids) have nothing to do with it, we have no concern about what the EU might say, whether the EU accepts us as members or not, we have no such concern. Please keep your wisdom to yourself.

Similarly, it is argued that the culture of Islam is incompatible with democracy. Basically, this conventional perspective of the Middle East thus contends that democracy in that region is neither possible nor even desirable.

The Kurdish problem is not only the problem of one part of my nation: it is a problem of every one of us, including myself.

In Turkey the religious minorities have more rights than they do in Europe.

I cannot understand how sensible people still defend Facebook, YouTube and Twitter

The knife in the hand of a murderer kills, but if you give it to a doctor he will heal with it.

Our religion has defined a position for women (in society): motherhood. Some people can understand this, while others can't. You cannot explain this to feminists because they don't accept the concept of motherhood.

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.

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.

If Twitter, Youtube & Facebook will be honest; if they'll stop being so immoral, stop attacking families, we'll support them

There is a trouble called Twitter, the finest lies are here. Nowadays, social media is actually the headache of societies.

If we look at history, we will see that regimes which persecute [their people] do not remain standing.

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

I should like to repeat what I stated recently in the Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia: It won't be the religion, but rather the world-view of some of its followers that shall be made current.