Turkey wants to be treated by the same standards as other countries. If you compare us to some other newly accepted EU members our performance, especially in terms of the economy, is much better.

Forsake Alcohol, eat grapes instead!

I went back in British history. Some 204 people died there after a mine collapsed in 1838. In 1866, 361 miners died in Britain. In an explosion in 1894, 290 people died there.

Similarly, gender-equality, supremacy of law, political participation, civil society, and transparency are among the indispensable elements that are the imperatives of democratization.

Everyone should unconditionally accept that Israel is an indispensable element of the Middle Eastern mosaic.

Germany and Turkey are two countries that need each other. As political leaders we will leave our offices one day, but our people will remain and have to get along with each other. So we shouldn’t give them negative messages.

My own daughters weren't able to study in Turkey because of their headscarves, so they went to the United States.