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. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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

I take the debate on the method of promoting democracy seriously. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

I should like to repeat what I stated recently in the Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia: It would not be the religion, but rather the world-view of some of its followers that shall be made current. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

However, democracy cannot be defined as the existence of parliaments and elections alone. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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

Even in the Western world, one cannot argue that the ideal has been achieved given the existence of issues like the integration, participation and representation of Muslim citizens, and occasional but lingering anti-Semitism. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

But foremost, I do not subscribe to the view that Islamic culture and democracy cannot be reconciled. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

As a politician who cherishes religious conviction in his personal sphere, but regards politics as a domain belonging outside religion, I believe that this view is seriously flawed. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan

According to this view, democracy is a product of western culture, and it cannot be applied to the Middle East which has a different cultural, religious, sociological and historical background. - Recep Tayyip Erdogan