Turkey Quotes
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Turkey is taking advantage of the war in order to thoroughly liquidate its internal foes, i.e., the indigenous Christians, without being thereby disturbed by foreign intervention.
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More Turkey Quotes
There is now evidence to suggest that Santa's grotto lies not in icy Lapland, but among Mediterranean olive groves on Gemiler, a tiny island off Turkey.
Roger Highfield— 1998 Can Reindeer Fly? The Science of Christmas.
I have traversed the seat of war in the Peninsula, I have been in some of the most oppressed provinces of Turkey; but never under the most despotic of infidel Governments did I behold such squalid wretchedness as I have seen since my return, in the very heart of a Christian country. And what are your remedies? After months of inaction, and months of action worse than inactivity, at length comes forth the grand specific the never-failing nostrum of all state physicians from the days of Draco to the present time; death. Is there not blood enough upon your penal code that more must be poured forth to ascend to Heaven and testify against you?
lord byron— 1812 Maiden speech given to House of Lords, 27 Feb, against a proposal to introduce the death penalty for machine wrecking.
Turkey serves as an anchor of democracy, freedom, and stability in a region in turmoil. Your own Thomas Paine once wrote, 'Those who, expect to reap the blessings of freedom must . . . undergo the fatigue of supporting it.' Let me say that in Turkey, we do not feel fatigued by our support of the Western allies because we know that by supporting the allies, we may all continue to reap the blessings of freedom.
kenan evren— US Department of State Bulletin, Sept, 1988
— From a statement made in a joint press conference with Ronald Regan during the Turkish president's 1988 trip to Washington, D.C.
Greece is a sort of American vassal; the Netherlands is the country of American bases that grow like tulip bulbs; Cuba is the main sugar plantation of the American monopolies; Turkey is prepared to kowtow before any United States proconsul and Canada is the boring second fiddle in the American symphony.
andrei gromyko— New York Herald Tribune, 30 Jun 1953
Some Englishmen, of whom Kitchener was chief, believed that a rebellion of Arabs against Turks would enable England, while fighting Germany, simultaneously to defeat Turkey. Their knowledge of the nature and power and country of the Arabic-speaking peoples made them think that the issue of such a rebellion would be happy: and indicated its character and method. So they allowed it to begin...
thomas edward ("t. e.") lawrence— Introduction: Foundations of Revolt
I'm glad to tell you Mr President that our relations with our neighbors is improved very well with Turkey, with Syria, with Iran with the Arab countries. The relation is normal now and we have no problem with any of those countries. In contrary, many many new ambassadors are coming to our country from Arab countries.
jalal talabani— Statement made to U.S. President George W. Bush at a meeting at the White House — reported in Agence France-Presse staff (September 10, 2008) "Talabani: Iran, Syria pose 'no problem' for Iraq", Agence France-Presse,
We are not denying that Turkey has a right to defend itself from extremists but some of its actions are not serving any democratic purpose in Turkey or in Iraq. This will not benefit the relations between the two countries.
jalal talabani— Abdel Hamid Zebari (December 25, 2007) "Turkish planes strike inside Iraq: Kurdish official", Agence France-Presse.
I always tell the Kurds who defend independence: Let's say we declared the independent Kurdish state and Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey imposed sanctions on us, without waging a war. How would we survive under those circumstances?
jalal talabani— Turkish Daily News staff (September 14, 2007) "Talabani: War against Turkey equal to war against democracy", Turkish Daily News.
These different blocs in the Turkish Empire...always conspired against Turkey; because of the hostility of these native peoples, Turkey has lost province after province - Greece, Serbia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Egypt, and Tripoli. In this way, the Turkish Empire has dwindled almost to nothing.
mehmed talat— Quoted in "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility" - by Taner Akçam, Paul Bessemer - History - 2006 - Page 92
My fans -- when I see them somewhere, outside my concerts -- I get that, that vibe. They're really supporting my projects and everything, because it's a first time that a Turkish singer is, you know, able to express himself out of Turkey.
tarkan— Tarkan finds his moves take him across borders. CNN Worldbeat. Retrieved on August 9, 1999.
In France, the characteristic attitude of newcomers from North Africa, Turkey, and sub-Saharan Africa is predominantly one of alienation, confrontation, rejection, and hatred.
— Jean-Francois Revel, "Europe's Anti-American Obsession" (2003), The View From Abroad, The American Enterprise.
While the death toll in the trenches of Western Europe were close to 2 million by the summer of 1915, the extermination of innocent civilians in Turkey (the Armenians, but also Syrian and Assyrian Christians and large portions of the Greek population, especially the Greeks of Pontos, or Black Sea region) was reaching 1 million.
— Peter Balakian, The Burning Tigris, p. 285-286
Till taught by pain, Men really know not what good water's worth; If you had been in Turkey or in Spain, Or with a famish'd boat's-crew had your berth, Or in the desert heard the camel's bell, You'd wish yourself where Truth is in a well.
lord byron— Lord Byron, Don Juan (1818–24), Canto II, Stanza 84.
All that I have seen and heard surpasses all imagination. Speaking of "thousand and one horrors" is very little in this case, I thought I was passing through a part of hell... everywhere it is the same Governmental barbarism which aims at the systematic annihilation through starvation of the survivors of the Armenian nation in Turkey.
— August Bernau, Aleppo Agent of the Vacuum Oil Company of New York, September 10, 1916 US State Department Record Group 59, 867.4016/302
Thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in Turkey. Almost no one dares speak but me, and the nationalists hate me for that.
— Orhan Pamuk, Internationally recognized Turkish author, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature (2006) in an interview with Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger (2005)
Pamuk has made groundless claims against the Turkish identity, the Turkish military and Turkey as a whole. He should be punished for violating Articles 159 and 312 of the Turkish penal code. He made a statement provoking the people to hatred and animosity through the media, which is defined as a crime in Article 312.
— Orhan Pekmezci, Kayseri Bar Association Attorney upon filing charges against Pamuk for violations of Turkish Penal Code (2005)
The partisans of Ittihad are unabashedly conceding that their ultimate aim [Endziel] is the total annihilation (ganzliche Ausrottung) of the Armenians of Turkey, adding, "After the war we no longer will have any Armenians in Turkey."
— Dr. Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, German Vice Consul, Erzerum, 28 July 1915
It can no longer be denied that the Turks... have undertaken the extermination of the Armenians race and it appears that they have largely succeeded in it. With certain air of gleefulness Talaat recently told me that in Erzerum, for example, there should be remaining not a single Armenian... Turkey today is under a maniacal spell due to the realization that she carried out the extermination of the Armenian race with impunity.
— Karl Count zu Trautmansdorff-Weinsberg, Temporary Ambassador to Turkey, (30 September 1915) Austrian Foriegn Ministry Archives
By February 1916, 1.5 million Armenians were destroyed ... the first step toward the recovery of the economic predominance in Turkey ... there was joy in the government circles that the long-desired opportunity finally presented itself...
— A. A. Türkei, 134/35, A18613, pp. 1,2,3,4 "Volkswirtschaftliche Studien in der Türkey" report.
Until recently, in fact at the beginning of this year, the Armenians were regarded as the most reliable element, indeed the only reliable people within the Christian elements in Turkey. One could read it in all the newspapers and the important Turkish dignitaries confirmed this on every occasion, which presented itself...Since March, an about-turn has taken place which is as general and consequent as if the Turks had never known up until now what dangerous people had been living within their midst.
— von Tysza, German journalist in Ottoman Turkey, from German Archives - (1915-10-01-DE-001)
The manner in which the matter of relocation is being handled demonstrate that the government is in fact pursuing the goal of annihialating the Armenian race in Turkey.
— Baron Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim, German Foreign Ministry Archives.
A rich compost of Turkey manure and wood shavings.
bill allred— Radio From Hell (April 12, 2006)
My mother is a great hunter — she usually shoots our Thanksgiving Turkey.
kirsten gillibrand— Saratoga.com
He's had a tough life. As is not unusual in Jewish families - if you've ever seen the movie Avalon - I think somebody's cut the Turkey on Uncle Louis a few years ago... That doesn't change my view of him when I was young and he was a detective.
howard safir— Safir, reponding to the disparaging comments made about him by his uncle, Louis Weiner (who captured the bandit Willie Sutton)Russ Baker and Josh Benson (1999-05-16). "The Commish Bites Back: Howard Safir Explains His Life to His Critics". The New York Observer. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
Try this: say the words "global, global, global" aloud several times, as fast as you can. You'll find yourself sounding like a Turkey ("gobble, gobble, gobble").
jim stanford— Part 4, Chapter 21, Globalization, p. 254
I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. The Turkey is a much more respectable bird.
Benjamin Franklin— letter to Sarah Bache (January 26, 1784).
Then he just stood there in front of me and I kept on staring at him. The only thing I could think of was Turkey neck and Turkey gizzards and I felt very depressed.
Sylvia Plath— Ch. 6 (The Bell Jar (1963))
I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; like those among men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor, and often very lousy. The Turkey is a much more respectable bird.
— Benjamin Franklin, letter to Sarah Bache (January 26, 1784).
