Quotes about turkey (155 quotes, page 2)

“You cried out when 50,000 refugees were at the Kapikule border… You started asking what you would do if Turkey would open the gates. Look at me — if you go further, those border gates will be open. You should know that.”

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (1954) 12th President of Turkey from 2014

As quoted in "Erdogan Threatens to Let Migrant Flood Into Europe Resume" http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/world/europe/turkey-recep-tayyip-erdogan-migrants-european-union.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0, The New York Times (November 25, 2016)

“Our efforts will only succeed if the Arabs and Turks step up in a much bigger way. This is their fight and they need to act like it. So far, however, Turkey has been more focused on the Kurds than on countering ISIS. And to be fair, Turkey has a long and painful history with Kurdish terrorist groups. But the threat from ISIS cannot wait. As difficult as it may be, we need to get Turkey to stop bombing Kurdish fighters in Syria who are battling ISIS and become a full partner of our coalition efforts against ISIS. The United States should also work with our Arab partners to get them more invested in the fight against ISIS. At the moment, they are focused in other areas.”

Hillary Clinton (1947) American politician, senator, Secretary of State, First Lady

Presidential campaign (April 12, 2015 – 2016), Speech on fighting ISIS (November 20, 2015)

Pain , Way , History , Effort

“The success and originality of American integration stem precisely from the fact that immigrants' descendants can perpetuate their ancestral cultures while thinking of themselves as Americans in the fullest sense, sharing basic ideals across racial and ethnic barriers. In France, the characteristic attitude of newcomers from North Africa, Turkey, and sub-Saharan Africa is predominantly one of alienation, confrontation, rejection, and hatred.”

Jean-François Revel (1924–2006) French writer and philosopher

2000s, Europe's Anti-American Obsession (2003)

Thinking , Sense , Success

“Moving to Turkey was the turning point in my life.”

Tarkan (1972) Turkish singer

Tarkan Q & A, Tarkan Translations, April 10, 2003 http://tarkantr.blogspot.com/2005/05/q.html,

Life

“Our problem today – not only in Iraq, but in all Arab and Islamic countries – is the duality of the Shari'a and the law…. Our countries do not fully abide by the Shari'a of Allah, nor do they follow a man-made law, like in France and other countries – including Turkey. There is nothing wrong with a country that bases itself exclusively on Shari'a law, with no regard for the civil law. We believe the Koran to be the book sent by Allah – a complete book, with no additions and no omissions. Indeed, we believe that the Koran and Islam are the solution. Why, then, do we mix elements of the French and other laws in our Shari'a law? Let the brothers who demand the establishment of a religious state adhere exclusively to Shari'a law. Let them, for example, collect the Jizya([9, 29, y] poll tax from their Christian citizens. Let them annihilate the Yazidis because they do not belong to the People of the Book. Let them raise doubts about the status of the Sabaeans in Iraq, because it is unclear whether they belong to the People of the Book or not.”

Iyad Jamal Al-Din (1961) Iraqi politician

Note he is speaking sarcastically when he says "There is nothing wrong with a country that bases itself exclusively on shari'a, with no regard for the civil law" and again when he says "Let them, for example, collect the jizya from their Christian citizens. Let them annihilate the Yazidis … Let them raise doubts about the status of the Sabaeans ..."
Iraqi MP Iyad Jamal Al-Din Criticizes the Concept of an Islamic State and Says Iraqis Should Be Grateful to the US for Liberating Iraq, MEMRI, December 14, 2007 http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1641.htm,

People , Books , Law , Problem

“Growing up, I've always had so much love for animals, and I wasn't really fond of eating meat and really anything with a face because I just felt that it was an awful thing to do. Just recently I switched to a vegetarian. I had my first Thanksgiving with being a vegetarian; no turkey, I had tofu. A vegan dish, it was delicious. I did not miss turkey. I've never had a hamburger in my life. And I'm so glad that I can say that.”

Courtney Stodden (1994) American model, singer, songwriter, reality television personality

“Courtney Stodden on the Perks of Going Vegetarian,” video interview with PETA (28 March 2012) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyBCZW3FWec.

Love , Life , Animals

“I was born a vegetarian, I think. Since infancy I never liked meat, never ate it, never ate turkey, chicken, fish or eggs. … I'm so healthy it's embarrassing. If I felt any better I'd have to see a doctor. … I truly believe that fruit is the body's cleanser, vegetables are the body's healer, and meat is the body's premature aging agent and the cause of all diseases except virus disease.”

Roy Hilligenn (1922–2008) South African bodybuilder

Interview by Osmo Kiiha; quoted in Clarence Bass, Challenge Yourself: Leanness, Fitness & Health at Any Age https://books.google.it/books?id=FSfwAAAAMAAJ (C. Bass' Ripped Enterprises, 1999), p. 202.

Age , Disease , Thinking , Fish

“Personally I think that Austria’s unilateral decision, and then those made subsequently by Balkan countries, will obviously bring us fewer refugees, but they put Greece in a very difficult situation. If we do not manage to reach a deal with Turkey, then Greece cannot bear the weight for long. That’s why I am seeking a real European solution, that is, a solution for all 28”

Angela Merkel (1954) Chancellor of Germany

E.U. members
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized other European countries for shutting the door to refugees and migrants hoping to reach Europe via the Balkan route, the BBC reports, quoted on Time, "The route is the major pathway to Western Europe for refugees arriving in Greece" http://time.com/4255038/germany-merkel-refugees-balkan-route/, March 10, 2016.
2016

Thinking , Decision , Personality , Country

“Philip Kaufman's Twisted walks like a thriller and talks like a thriller, but it squawks like a turkey.
But back to deus ex machina. This is a phrase you will want to study and master, not merely to amaze friends during long bus journeys but because it so perfectly describes what otherwise might take you thousands of words. Imagine a play on a stage. The hero is in a fix. The dragon is breathing fire, his sword is broken, his leg is broken, his spirit is broken, and the playwright's imagination is broken. Suddenly there is the offstage noise of the grinding of gears, and invisible machinery lowers a god onto the stage, who slays the dragon, heals the hero, and fires the playwright. He is the "god from the machine."”

Roger Ebert (1942–2013) American film critic, author, journalist, and TV presenter

Review http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/twisted-2004 of Twisted (27 February 2004)
Reviews, Two star reviews

God , Imagination , Study

“Erdogan may have dreamt of a one-party system with himself at the helm far into the future. That, however, is not on the cards. Going in such a direction could deal the coup de grace to Turkey’s already sick economy by drying up foreign direct investment and fast developing trade links with Europe and North America. What Erdogan can do is to build a “one-and-a-half party” system in which the AKP will set the agenda for the remainder of the decade while opposition parties provide the “half” needed to maintain the appearance of parliamentary democracy. A “one-and-a-half party” system isn’t unprecedented. Mexico tried it for half a century. Japan has lived with it since the end of the Second World War. It is also the model that Vladimir Putin has imposed in Russia. The failed coup has set Turkish democracy back by at least a decade. However, had it succeeded it might have caused an even longer and deeper setback.”

Amir Taheri (1942) Iranian journalist

Opinion: Turkey – Towards a “One and a Half Party” System http://english.aawsat.com/2016/08/article55355819/opinion-turkey-towards-one-half-party-system, Ashraq Al-Awsat (5 Aug, 2016).

War , World , Democracy , Appearance

“The primary bone of contention between the U. S. and Turkey is Fethullah Gülen, a shady Islamic mullah residing in Pennsylvania whom former President Clinton once called his “friend” in a well circulated video.”

Michael T. Flynn (1958) 25th United States National Security Advisor

Our ally Turkey is in crisis and needs our support (2016)

“Five days of wireheading alone should have killed her, never mind sudden cold turkey.”

Spider Robinson (1948) Canadian author

God Is An Iron (1977)

“The work of Dr. Nares has filled us with astonishment similar to that which Captain Lemuel Gulliver felt when first he landed in Brobdingnag, and saw corn as high as the oaks in the New Forest, thimbles as large as buckets, and wrens of the bulk of turkeys. The whole book, and every component part of it, is on a gigantic scale. The title is as long as an ordinary preface: the prefatory matter would furnish out an ordinary book; and the book contains as much reading as an ordinary library. We cannot sum up the merits of the stupendous mass of paper which lies before us better than by saying that it consists of about two thousand closely printed quarto pages, that it occupies fifteen hundred inches cubic measure, and that it weighs sixty pounds avoirdupois. Such a book might, before the deluge, have been considered as light reading by Hilpa and Shallum. But unhappily the life of man is now three-score years and ten; and we cannot but think it somewhat unfair in Dr. Nares to demand from us so large a portion of so short an existence. Compared with the labour of reading through these volumes, all other labour, the labour of thieves on the treadmill, of children in factories, of negroes in sugar plantations, is an agreeable recreation.”

Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay (1800–1859) British historian and Whig politician

Review of a life of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley by Edward Nares, Edinburgh Review, 1832)
Attributed

Life , Children , Books , Thinking

“What did the Ottoman Empire bring to the peoples under its yoke other than massacres, oppression, and tyranny? Does anyone miss Ottomanism, providing a reason to deliver a “New Ottomanism”? And what does the “zero problems with the neighbors” policy mean? Does it mean that all neighbors should obediently do what Turkey wants them to do and satisfy Turkey’s preconditions? There are probably neighbors for whom it is quite beneficial, but we are certainly not among them.”

Serzh Sargsyan (1954) Armenian politician, 3rd President of Armenia

Speech of S. Sargsyan in the House of Representatives of Cyprus http://www.aysor.am/en/news/2011/01/17/serzh-sargsyan-cyprus-address/ (January 17, 2011)

People , Problem

“I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. The turkey is a much more respectable bird.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) American author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, …

letter to Sarah Bache (26 January 1784).
Epistles

Men , Bird , Country

“For centuries, Ottoman sultans dreamed of conquest in the name of Islam. When they failed on the battlefield they sought glory in building mosques. Eighty years after the Caliphate was abolished to make way for a Western-style republic, the tradition is being revived by Turkey’s current leaders. Led by the ebullient Recep Tayyip Erdogan and inspired by an ideological hodgepodge labeled “neo-Ottomanism,” they are using urban architecture to kill the European dream of secular Turks. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the republic, adopted the Latin alphabet, purged Turkish of Arabic words and brought mosques and religious endowments under state control. He also enlisted a team of French ethnologists to invent the myth of a Turkish nation related to Hungarians and Finns and stretching from Central Europe to Central Asia. For decades, Turkey’s Islamists tried to undo as much of Ataturk’s “reforms” as possible but failed because a majority of Turks would not vote for a party with an Islamist agenda. Erdogan solved that problem by uniting some 20 different Islamist groups into a new party that made no mention of Islam.”

Amir Taheri (1942) Iranian journalist

"Farewell Ataturk" http://nypost.com/2013/06/27/farewell-ataturk/, New York Post (June 27, 2013).
New York Post

Dreams , Way , Problem

“I do not accept the language of threatening and blackmailing from the government of Turkey.”

Massoud Barzani (1946) Iraqi Kurdish politician

Turkey and PKK
Source: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1680302,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topics

“Those who urge an alliance with Assad cite the example of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet despot who became an ally of Western democracies against Nazi Germany. I never liked historical comparisons and like this one even less. To start with, the Western democracies did not choose Stalin as an ally; he was thrusted upon them by the turn of events. When the Second World War started Stalin was an ally of Hitler thanks to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Soviet Union actively participated in the opening phase of the war by invading Poland from the east as the Germans came in from the West. Before that, Stalin had rendered Hitler a big service by eliminating thousands of Polish army officers in The Katyn massacre. Between September 1939 and June 1941, when Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, Stalin was an objective ally of Hitler. Stalin switched sides when he had no choice if he wanted to save his skin. The situation in Syria today is different. There is no alliance of democracies which, thanks to Obama’s enigmatic behavior, lack any strategy in the Middle East. Unlike Stalin, Assad has not switched sides if only because there is no side to switch to. Assad regards ISIS as a tactical ally against other armed opposition groups. This is why Russia is now focusing its air strikes against non-ISIS armed groups opposed to Assad. More importantly, Assad has none of the things that Stalin had to offer the Allies. To start with Stalin could offer the vast expanse of territory controlled by the Soviet Union and capable of swallowing countless German divisions without belching. Field Marshal von Paulus’ one-million man invasion force was but a drop in the ocean of the Soviet landmass. In contrast, Assad has no territorial depth to offer. According to the Iranian General Hossein Hamadani, who was killed in Aleppo, Assad is in nominal control of around 20 percent of the country. Stalin also had an endless supply of cannon fodder, able to ship in millions from the depths of the Urals, Central Asia and Siberia. In contrast, Assad has publicly declared he is running out of soldiers, relying on Hezbollah cannon fodder sent to him by Tehran. If Assad has managed to hang on to part of Syria, it is partly because he has an air force while his opponents do not. But even that advantage has been subject to the law of diminishing returns. Four years of bombing defenseless villages and towns has not changed the balance of power in Assad’s favor. This may be why his Russian backers decided to come and do the bombing themselves. Before, the planes were Russian, the pilots Syrian. Now both planes and pilots are Russian, underlining Assad’s increasing irrelevance. Stalin’s other card, which Assad lacks, consisted of the USSR’s immense natural resources, especially the Azerbaijan oilfields which made sure the Soviet tanks could continue to roll without running out of petrol. Assad in contrast has lost control of Syria’s oilfields and is forced to buy supplies from ISIS or smugglers operating from Turkey. There are other differences between Stalin then and Assad now. Adulated as “the Father of the Nation” Stalin had the last word on all issues. Assad is not in that position. In fact, again according to the late Hamadani in his last interview published by Iranian media, what is left of the Syrian Ba’athist regime is run by a star chamber of shadowy characters who regard Assad as nothing but a figurehead.”

Amir Taheri (1942) Iranian journalist

Opinion: No, Bashar Al-Assad is no Joseph Stalin http://english.aawsat.com/2015/10/article55345413/opinion-no-bashar-al-assad-is-no-joseph-stalin, Ashraq Al-Awsat (16 Oct, 2015).

War , World , Law , Behavior

“Turkey’s president is blackmailing the United States by threatening to curb his country’s support for the international coalition against the Islamic State. His goal: to ensure my extradition, despite a lack of credible evidence and virtually no prospect for a fair trial. The temptation to give Mr. Erdogan whatever he wants is understandable. But the United States must resist it.”

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (1954) 12th President of Turkey from 2014

Fethullah Gülen, "Fethullah Gulen: I Condemn All Threats to Turkey’s Democracy", The New York Times (July 26, 2016)
About

Understanding , Support , Country

“The Ottoman Empire was an ugly affair, but they had the right idea. The rulers in Turkey were fortunately so corrupt that they left people alone pretty much -- were mostly interested in robbing them -- and they left them alone to run their own affairs, and their own regions and their own communities with a lot of local self determination.”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

Talk titled "Prospects for Peace in the Middle East" at the University of Toledo, Ohio, March 4, 2001 http://www.chomsky.info/talks/20010304.htm.
Quotes 2000s, 2001

People , Communication , Idea

“There is much sentimentality in the fourteen Points of Wilson's peace program. As far as we are concerned the question of Alsace-Lorraine is one that we cannot discuss and it cannot even be raised at any international conference. The territorial integrity of Turkey must be maintained. The Reich Chancellor has declared that we do not seek the annexation of Belgium. However, the Flemish movement is working for independence. The Reich Government should make it its task to support this movement. With regard to the question of self-determination…it must be remembered that there is no political education in Lithuania and that from seventy to eighty per cent. of the population there is illiterate…[Poland does] not need freedom.”

Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929) German politician, statesman, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Speech in the Reichstag (24 January 1918), quoted in W. M. Knight-Patterson, Germany. From Defeat to Conquest 1913-1933 (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1945), p. 138.
1910s

Education , Peace , Question , Support

“The state of emergency had negative effects on our democracy and economy, because of the state of emergency, the number of foreign investments to our country has been reduced and inflation, interest rates and the current deficit are higher now. The main reason is because Turkey is getting far away from democracy.”

Akif Hamzaçebi

As quoted in Turkey approves controversial security law http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-approves-controversial-security-law-1364915043 (24 July 2018), Middle East Eye.

Democracy , Country

“We have been discussing here that Turkey would take responsibility and the other European countries would make our own contributions to the cause. This way we can extend help near to the crisis, which would make it easier for the migrants to return to their homes once the situation has calmed down.”

Timo Soini (1962) Finnish politician

Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipilä says one way to resolve the Syrian refugee crisis would be through the use of EU quotas. Foreign Minister Timo Soini rejects the idea, saying Turkey should take the main responsibility for stopping the migrants with the EU countries' financial help, quoted on Yle.Fi, "PM willing to raise refugee quota, FM says Turkey should take the lead" http://yle.fi/uutiset/pm_willing_to_raise_refugee_quota_fm_says_turkey_should_take_the_lead/8655373, January 7, 2016.

Way , Home , Help , Country

“We can truly say that once the Leader of the Opposition had discovered what the Liberals and the SNP were going to do, she found the courage of their convictions. So, this evening, the Conservative Party, who want the Act repealed and oppose even devolution, will march through the Lobby with the SNP, who want independence for Scotland, and with the Liberals, who want to keep the Act. What a massive display of unsullied principle! The minority parties have walked into a trap. If they win, there will be a general election. I am told that the current joke going round the House is that it is the first time in recorded history that turkeys have been known to vote for an early Christmas.”

James Callaghan (1912–2005) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; 1976-1979

Speech http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1979/mar/28/her-majestys-government-opposition-motion in the House of Commons (28 March 1979). In the No confidence debate which brought his government down on 28 March 1979, Callaghan poked fun at the opposition parties and drew attention to their low showing in opinion polls. In the event the Scottish National Party lost 9 of its 11 seats
Prime Minister

History , Courage , Time , Christmas

“Trevor Huddleston: …what I still want to know from you, really, is why the presence of a coloured immigrant group is objectionable, when the presence of a non-coloured immigrant is not objectionable.
Enoch Powell: Oh no, oh no! On the contrary, I have often said that if we saw the prospect of five million Germans in this country at the end of the century, the risks of disruption and violence would probably be greater, and the antagonism which would be aroused would be more severe. The reason why the whole debate in this country on immigration is related to coloured immigration, is because there has been no net immigration of white Commonwealth citizens, and there could be no migration of aliens. This is merely an automatic consequence of the facts of the case; it is not because there is anything different, because there is anything necessarily more dangerous, about the alienness of a community from Asia, than about the alienness of a community from Turkey or from Germany, that we discuss this inevitably in terms of colour. It is because it is that problem.”

Enoch Powell (1912–1998) British politician

The Great Debate, BBC TV (9 September 1969), from Reflections of a Statesman. The Writings and Speeches of Enoch Powell (London: Bellew, 1991), pp. 399-400
1960s

Communication , Problem , Country

“My policy has always been the same. We're fighting ISIS and Assad is fighting ISIS, but we're backing rebels to fight Assad. You can't fight everybody, you have to pick who you want to fight. And now you've got Turkey, who like ISIS more than they like others, no one really knows because we don't have people that know what they're doing. So in my opinion, you go along, and Russia does not like ISIS, and people are starting to find out. I mean in all fairness lost an airplane, got blew out of the air. So Russia is not a fan of ISIS. Russia is bombing the hell out of them, starting to bomb them. I say isis is our number one threat. We can't be fighting everybody at the same time. ISIS is our number one threat. I would bomb the hell out of them -- I like to do one thing at a time. I would knock the hell out of ISIS. I would hit them … so hard like they've never been hit before.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

In an interview with Fox & Friends. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/trump-kill-isil-families-216343 (December 2, 2015)
2010s, 2015

People , Hell , Time , Fight

“Try this: say the words "global, global, global" aloud several times, as fast as you can. You'll find yourself sounding like a turkey ("gobble, gobble, gobble").”

Jim Stanford (1961) Canadian economist

Part 4, Chapter 21, Globalization, p. 254
Economics For Everyone (2008)

Time

“Turkeys are intelligent, social, curious, and sometimes even funny. I wish people were more like turkeys sometimes. … We're going to have a special celebration for turkeys this November, where we're going to hang out with turkeys, we're not going to eat them, we're just going to kind of chill, hang out, talk with the turkeys, eat a little veggies.”

Biz Stone (1974) American blogger; co-founder of Twitter

“Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone talks about turkeys and Farm Sanctuary” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmemxjLriUI, ad for Farm Sanctuary (18 October 2011), reported in “Twitter founder Biz Stone likes turkeys, wishes people were more like them” https://venturebeat.com/2011/11/12/biz-stone-likes-turkeys/, in VentureBeat.com (12 November 2011).

People , Intelligence

“I'm putting it to you and to all of my critics, if you can find any Asian leader in any Asian country of whatever political persuasion who doesn't subscribe to the immigration views of New Zealand First, then name that person now. None of you can, all the way to Turkey.”

Winston Peters (1945) New Zealand politician

Interview with the 7:30 Report, ABC TV, Australia.

Way , Personality , Country

“I say we pardon the turkeys, but not our elected officials.”

Larisa Alexandrovna (1971) Ukrainian-American journalist, essayist, poet

Congress gets a vacation, but what about the troops? http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/contributors/lame_vacations_1129.htm.

“No continent is as small and fragmented as Europe. Only Australia is smaller, yet Europe consists of fifty independent nations (including Turkey and the Caucasus, for reasons explained later). Crowded with nations, it is also crowded with people. Europe's population density is 72.5 people per square kilometer. The European Union's density is 112 people per square kilometer. Asia has 86 people per square kilometer. Europe is crowded and fragmented.”

George Friedman (1949) American businessman and political scientist

Flashpoints: The Emerging Crisis in Europe (2015)

People

“The point at issue is that Turkey has been destroyed and shall never rise again, because we have destroyed her spiritual power, the Caliphate and Islam.”

George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (1859–1925) British politician

The Middle East, Abstracts and Index, Volume 30, Part 4, p. 39
Misattributed

“My mother is a great hunter — she usually shoots our Thanksgiving turkey.”

Kirsten Gillibrand (1966) United States Senator from New York

Saratoga.com

“A rich compost of turkey manure and wood shavings.”

Bill Allred

Radio From Hell (April 12, 2006)

“We are not denying that Turkey has a right to defend itself from extremists but some of its actions are not serving any democratic purpose in Turkey or in Iraq. This will not benefit the relations between the two countries.”

Jalal Talabani (1933–2017) Iraqi politician

Abdel Hamid Zebari (December 25, 2007) "Turkish planes strike inside Iraq: Kurdish official", Agence France-Presse.

Country

“I want to set up a warm and fruitful dialogue. I see that there is no trust between upper level politicians of Turkey and Armenia, but there is trust between the people. People of both countries come together frequently anyways.”

Sebouh Chouldjian (1959) Archbishop Sebouh Chouldjian is the primate of the Diocese of Gougark of the Armenian Apostolic Church

[ÖNDEROĞLU, Erol, Armenian Co-Patriarchate Candidate Çulciyan in Istanbul, Bianet: News in English, 2010-02-15, http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/120056-armenian-co-patriarchate-candidate-culciyan-in-istanbul, 2010-02-16, English]
On Armenia-Turkey relations

People , Country

“If you take a poll among U.S. intellectuals, support for bombing Afghanistan is just overwhelming, but how many of them think that you should bomb Washington because of the U.S. war against Nicaragua, let's say, or Cuba or Turkey, or anyone else?”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times (2002) documentary film
Quotes 2000s, 2002
Context: If you take a poll among U. S. intellectuals, support for bombing Afghanistan is just overwhelming, but how many of them think that you should bomb Washington because of the U. S. war against Nicaragua, let's say, or Cuba or Turkey, or anyone else? Now if anyone were to suggest this, they'd be considered insane, but why? I mean, if one is right, why is the other wrong? When you try to get someone to talk about this question, they just won't try. They can't comprehend what your question is, because you can't comprehend that we should apply to ourselves the standards that you apply to others. That is incomprehensible! There couldn't be a moral principle more elementary... There's a famous definition in the Gospels of the hypocrite. The hypocrite is the person who refuses to apply to himself the standards that he applies to others. By that standard, the entire commentary and discussion of the so-called "war on terror" is pure hypocrisy, virtually without exception. Can anybody understand that? No, can't understand that. But that's not so unusual... I know it was true in Germany and France and everywhere else. It's just standard. It's ugly, but it's standard.

War , Support , Thinking

“What about pigs, chickens, turkeys, fish, sheep?”

Gary Yourofsky (1970) animal rights activist

Part of the speech to the students of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Summer 2010)
Context: Is slavery - owner, victim, profit, domination - exclusive to the human race? Have blacks, Jews, women and children been the only victims of this atrocity? Have not cows been enslaved? What about pigs, chickens, turkeys, fish, sheep? If they're not enslaved, then what are they? Free? Can slavery have a victim that is neither a human, nor an animal? Have not the oceans, the forests, the earth itself, become victims of ownership too?

Fish

“The clock goes tic-tac-tic-tic
The birds of the lake pic-pac-pic-pic
Glou-glou-glou go all the turkeys
And the pretty bell ding-dang dong But... BOOM!
When our heart goes Boom,
All else says Boom
And it is Love that awakens.”

Charles Trenet (1913–2001) French singer-songwriter

"Boum!" (1938) - Performance in La route enchantée (1938) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0KWyWwVp0E

Love , Heart

“The mouse, even, has not been transmuted into the cat, nor the hen into the turkey, nor the duck into the goose, nor the hawk into the eagle, and still less the monkey into the man.”

David Brewster (1781–1868) British astronomer and mathematician

The facts and fancies of Mr. Darwin (1862)
Context: Though the large runt pigeon, with its massive beak and its huge feet, differs from its blue and barred progenitor the rock, it is a pigeon still. Though the slender Italian greyhound has a strange contrast with the short-legged bull-dog, they are both dogs in their teeth and in their skull. The mouse, even, has not been transmuted into the cat, nor the hen into the turkey, nor the duck into the goose, nor the hawk into the eagle, and still less the monkey into the man.

Cats

“The Republic of Turkey cannot be a country of sheikhs, dervishes, and disciples. The truest, most real order is the order of civilisation.”

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938) Turkish army officer, revolutionary, and the first President of Turkey

As quoted in Atatürk'ün Söylev ve Demeçleri, Volume II, p. 215

Country

“I am not afraid of seven crores of Muslims in India but I think, the seven crores in India, plus the armed hordes of Afghanistan, Central Asia, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Turkey will be irresistible. Are we then doomed?”

Lala Lajpat Rai (1865–1928) Indian author and politician

What India Owes Lala Lajpat Rai by Aravindan Neelakandan https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/what-india-owes-lala-lajpat-rai

Thinking

“There is one point more which has been troubling me very much of late and one which I want you to think carefully and that is the question of Hindu-Mohamedan unity. I have devoted most of my time during the last six months to the study of Muslim history and Muslim Law and I am inclined to think, it is neither possible nor practicable. Assuming and admitting the sincerity of the Mohamedan leaders in the Non-cooperation movement, I think their religion provides an effective bar to anything of the kind. You remember the conversation, I reported to you in Calcutta, which I had with Hakim Ajmalkhan and Dr. Kitchlew. There is no finer Mohamedan in Hindustan than Hakimsaheb but can any other Muslim leader override the Quran? I can only hope that my reading of Islamic Law is incorrect, and nothing would relieve me more than to be convinced that it is so. But if it is right then it comes to this that although we can unite against the British we cannot do so to rule Hindustan on British lines, we cannot do so to rule Hindustan on democratic lines. What is then the remedy? I am not afraid of seven crores in Hindustan but I think the seven crores of Hindustan plus the armed hosts of Afghanistan, Central Asia, Arabia, Mesopotamia and Turkey will be irresistible. I do honestly and sincerely believe in the necessity or desirability of Hindu-Muslim unity. I am also fully prepared to trust the Muslim leaders, but what about the injunctions of the Quran and Hadis? The leaders cannot override them. Are we then doomed? I hope not. I hope learned mind and wise head will find some way out of this difficulty.”

Lala Lajpat Rai (1865–1928) Indian author and politician

in B.R. Ambedkar, Pakistan or The Partition of India (1946)

Religion , Study , History , Law

“There are some parts of Turkey where the refugees outnumber the actual residents. No country in the world would accept this and nor should they.”

Ekrem İmamoğlu (1970) Turkish politician, mayor of Istanbul starting in 2019

As quoted in Mayor of Istanbul: Turkey badly managed refugees https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07gyxry

World , Parting , Country

“A year ago we had undertaken no specific commitments on the Continent of Europe, beyond those which had then existed. … To-day we are bound by new agreements for mutual defence with Poland and Turkey; we have guaranteed assistance to Greece and Rumania against aggression. … We know that, if the security and independence of other countries are to disappear, our own security and our own independence will be gravely threatened. We know that if international law and order is to be preserved, we must be prepared to fight in its defence.”

Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (1881–1959) British politician

Speech to the annual dinner of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (29 June 1939), quoted in The Times (30 June 1939), p. 9
Foreign Secretary

Fight , Law , Country

“Turkey is a secular and democratic state. This is all the more reason to make Turkey feel welcome in Europe… This is something I feel very strongly and very passionately about. Together I want us to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels.”

David Cameron (1966) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

"Turkey must be welcome in EU, insists Cameron" http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-must-be-welcome-in-eu-insists-cameron-2036190.html, The Independent, (27th July 2010)
2010s, A speech about Turkey's EU membership process

Passion , Making love , Feeling

“Revolution in India and Egypt, and also in the Caucuses…is of the highest importance. The treaty with Turkey will make it possible for the Foreign Office to realise this idea and to awaken the fanaticism of Islam.”

Helmuth von Moltke the Younger (1848–1916) Chief of the German General Staff

Memorandum (5 August 1914), quoted in Fritz Fischer, Germany's Aims in the First World War (New York: W. W. Norton & Co, 1967), p. 126

Idea , Making love

“Turkey now understands that the collective punishment of the Kurds on the southeastern periphery affects freedoms and democratic culture across the country. What was limited to the Kurds has become the norm for Mr. Erdogan’s opponents elsewhere too. The only hope for a liberal, democratic future lies in our coming together to defeat the authoritarian regime.”

Selahattin Demirtaş (1973) Turkish Kurdish politician

I Am Running for President in Turkey. From My Prison Cell. (2018)

Understanding , Country , Freedom , Future

“I have met lots of women who have grown up in Turkey who cannot bring themselves to swear in Turkish. But in English they use the F-word all the time. Writing is like that for me.”

Elif Shafak (1971) Turkish writer

On comparing writing to the freedoms that Turkish women have found in another language in “Elif Shafak: ‘I thought the British were calm about politics. Not any longer’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/16/elif-shalak-i-thought-the-british-were-calm-about-politics-booker-prize-shortlist in The Guardian (2019 Sep 16)

Time , Women

“I learned to pay attention to the readers and not to the madness…Because to be a writer in Turkey is a bit like being kissed on one cheek and slapped on the other.”

Elif Shafak (1971) Turkish writer

On focusing on her readership in “Elif Shafak: ‘I thought the British were calm about politics. Not any longer’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/16/elif-shalak-i-thought-the-british-were-calm-about-politics-booker-prize-shortlist in The Guardian (2019 Sep 16)

Madness , Kiss , Learning

“Turkey will continue moving forward to new targets [and] new horizons in stability and security with the new governing system.”

Binali Yıldırım (1955) Turkish politician; 27th Prime Minister of Turkey

Turkish premier casts vote in his hometown Izmir (June 24, 2018) https://www.aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/turkish-premier-casts-vote-in-his-hometown-izmir/1184573

“Turkey is a big and powerful country. We are a small and weak country. But whenever Turkey needs, we will be there. Albanian people will never forget Turkey's help,”

Edi Rama (1964) Albanian politician

Source: Turkey's aid will never be forgotten: Albanian PM (November 28, 2019) https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/turkeys-aid-will-never-be-forgotten-albanian-pm/1657618

Forgetting , People , Help , Country

“Consider that the turkey's experience may have, rather than no value, a negative value.”

Nassim Nicholas Taleb book The Black Swan

It learned from observation, as we are all advised to do (hey, after all, this is what is believed to be the scientific method). Its confidence increased as the number of friendly feedings grew, and it felt increasingly safe even though the slaughter was more and more imminent. Consider that the feeling of safety reached its maximum when the risk was at the highest!
Source: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (2007), pp. 40–41 (Taleb attributes the parable of the turkey to Bertrand Russell, who originally wrote of a chicken.)

“Sir, there were other days, when England was the hope of freedom. Wherever in the world a high aspiration was entertained, or a noble blow was struck, it was to England that the eyes of the oppressed were always turned—to this favourite, this darling home of so much privilege and so much happiness, where the people that had built up a noble edifice for themselves would, it was well known, be ready to do what in them lay to secure the benefit of the same inestimable boon for others. You talk to me of the established tradition and policy in regard to Turkey. I appeal to an established tradition, older, wider, nobler far—a tradition not which disregards British interests, but which teaches you to seek the promotion of those interests in obeying the dictates of honour and of justice.”

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898) British Liberal politician and prime minister of the United Kingdom

Speech http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1877/may/07/postponement-of-orders-of-the-day#column_437 in the House of Commons (7 May 1877)
1870s

Home , Justice , Freedom , Happiness

“[I] didn't say anything about Turkey during the referendum. Since I made no remarks...I can't disown them”

Boris Johnson (1964) British politician, historian and journalist

Source: Brexit: Did Boris Johnson talk Turkey during referendum campaign? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46926119, BBC News, 18 January 2019

Quotes about turkey page 2

Quotes about turkey
page 2