Recep Tayyip Erdoğan quotes - page 2

You cannot place a mother breastfeeding her baby on an equal footing with men. You cannot make women work in the same jobs as men do, as in communist regimes. You cannot give them a shovel and tell them to do their work. This is against their delicate nature. (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan)
I consider abortion to be murder. No-one should have the right to allow this to happen. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
As Muslims, we cannot overcome our difficulties without achieving unity in spite of our differences. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Europe, you don't want us because the majority of our population are Muslim ... We knew it but we tried to show our sincerity. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Those who do not want to take a side will be eliminated (read as: irrelevant for) from the process. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Mr. Peres, you are older than I am. And your voice is genuinely loud. I know that it is because you are, in fact, in a psychology of feeling guilty, thus you better know that I will not sound that loud. And when killing is the case, you know how to kill very well. I know how you killed the children on the beaches, I know how you shot them. Two ex-PMs of your country once told me important things. You have had such prime ministers who said, "When I enter Palestine on a tank, I feel happy - in a different way." You have had PMs who said to me "I feel happy when I am on a tank while entering Palestine." And you give me those numbers. I would release their names, in case some of you might be curious of. I also condemn those who acclaim this cruelty, because I think it is a crime against humanity as well. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
What women need is to be able to be equivalent, rather than equal. Because equality turns the victim into an oppressor and vice versa. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Erdogan once said that democracy for him is a bus ride. "Once I get to my stop, I'm getting off." View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
In my country there are 170,000 Armenians. Seventy thousand of them are citizens. We tolerate 100,000 more. So, what am I going to do tomorrow? If necessary I will tell the 100,000: OK, time to go back to your country. Why? They are not my citizens. I am not obliged to keep them in my country. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
However, democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone. (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan)
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
My visit to the United States has also given me the opportunity to emphasize the objective of establishing close and intensive links between the Turkish and American peoples, scholars and businessmen. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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 Erdoğan)
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
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. View quote
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan