I don't want to be a tree; I want to be its meaning.

The bloody years of war and all the atrocities in European history have taught the Europeans that secular politics free of religious hatred is mainly a question of peace. This concept is not anchored in the same way in the consciousness of Turks, which has to do with the fact that the secular was forced upon us by the army.

Enjoyment of football is part of the social context, and I have lost my faith in this social context.

I need the pain of loneliness to make my imagination work.

In Europe the rich are refined enough to act as if they're not wealthy. That is how civilized people behave. If you ask me, being cultured and civilized is not about everyone being free and equal; it's about everyone being refined enough to act as if they were. Then no one has to feel guilty.

My hero wants to belong too, but he doesn't want to give up all the things he came to value in the west.

The first thing I learned at school was that some people are idiots; the second thing I learned was that some are even worse.