Quotes from Recep Tayyip Erdogan

A country without a strong leader will go down.

In other words, the bar should be maintained at the level of a pluralistic and participatory democracy.

The PKK is the number one threat in terms of terror in our country.

Similarly, it is argued that the culture of Islam is incompatible with democracy. Basically, this conventional perspective of the Middle East thus contends that democracy in that region is neither possible nor even desirable.

Invariably, also a Palestinian state should live side by side with Israel within recognized and secure borders and the security and prosperity of the Palestinian people must be guaranteed.

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.

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.

I regard the endorsement of both the objective and a method - which can differ from one country to another- of democratization by the parties in the region as a basic requisite of democratization in the Middle East.

I am a person who is inclined to define relations between individuals based on principles.

However, democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone.

If the EU doesnÂ''t want Turkey, they should say it now and clearly. If we are not wanted, then both sides donÂ't need to waste their time with negotiations.

Jerusalem is holy to three religions. You have to respect that.

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.

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

Before anything else, I'm a Muslim. As a Muslim, I try to comply with the requirements of my religion. I have a responsibility to God, who created me, and I try to fulfill that responsibility. But I try now very much to keep this away from my political life, to keep it private.

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.

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.

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.

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

A simple caricature, a simple sketch - that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you draw up a caricature... if you associate that subject with the things you're not supposed to, then, of course, you can't expect that to be acceptable.

Russia and Iran back Assad, but are they fighting Daesh? The answer is 'no.'

The Kurdish problem is not only the problem of one part of my nation: it is a problem of every one of us, including myself.

There is no Kurdish problem.

Once the people of Iraq know when the U.S. troops will leave, their confidence in the U.S. will increase.