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

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 Quote

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 Quote

But foremost, I do not subscribe to the view that Islamic culture and democracy cannot be reconciled.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote

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 Quote

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 Quote

However, democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote

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 Quote

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.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote

I take the debate on the method of promoting democracy seriously.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote

In this context, social consensus, and institutions that embody this consensus, must be made effective in order for democratization not to be abused as a provisional instrument to establish an anti-democratic regime.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote

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 Quote

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.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote

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 Quote

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 Quote

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 Quote

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 Quote

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.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote

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

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.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote

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.
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan Quote