Well, on the one hand the Turks have the legitimate need to defend their national dignity - and this includes being recognized as a part of the west and Europe.
We're not stupid! We're just poor! And we have a right to insist on this distinction
As much as I live I shall not imitate them or hate myself for being different to them
I see Turkey's future as being in Europe, as one of many prosperous, tolerant, democratic countries.
There's a lot of pride involved in my refusal to believe in god.
I am proud to be a Turk, and to write in Turkish about Turkey - and to have been translated into about 40 languages. But I don't want to politicize things by dramatizing them.