 I see Turkey's future as being in Europe, as one of many prosperous, tolerant, democratic countries. |
| These political movements flourish on the margins of Turkish society because of poverty and because of the people's feeling that they are not being represented. |
| At first my publisher had reservations about publishing it in the form you are familiar with. |
| The hero of the book does long to experience God. But his conception of God is very western. |
| I want to describe the psychological state of the people in a certain city. |
| The secularists in Turkey haven't underestimated religion, they just made the mistake of believing they could control it with the power of the army alone. |
| I really don't want to portray the Islamists as simply evil, the way it's often done in the west. |
| The challenge is to lend conviction even to the voices which advocate views I find personally abhorrent, whether they are political Islamists or officers justifying a coup. |
| 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. |
| The opponents of this process have always tried to vilify westernization as a poor imitation. |
| There's been quite a clear upswing in nationalist sentiments. Everyone is talking about it, in Turkey as well. |
| My hero wants to belong too, but he doesn't want to give up all the things he came to value in the west. |
