I believe Tunisia and Egypt should look to Turkey and see what not to do. Turkey seems to be a secular and democratic country but it is only a show. ….

The way I wrote it is a nice and enjoyable way to write stories, to pretend to say something when you're really saying something else. "Hey guys, com….

Syrian people have right to fight for democracy and freedom in their country but they don't need the penetration of foreign elements, fundamentalist ….

When people are not in a prison cell they believe they are free and happy. That's not true. Because in Istanbul, the modern person wakes up at 5 o'cl….

People feel that the beauty of the Istanbul is something we used to have in the past or something we will have in the future. But we have that beauty….

When I decided to write a novel about Istanbul, I thought I should put the different faces of Istanbul into one book. I also put the characters in a ….

Turkish society is divided not only culturally but also politically. You're either conservative or progressive. Islamist or secular. Right wing or le….

Istanbul is divided by time, not space. The first Istanbul is the Istanbul of the past. A long time ago, during the empire, it was beautiful, it was ….

We are not in prison so we are free and happy? No. We're in a different kind of prison in this life. We have to confront it, and we have to liberate ….

We have to consider culture respectfully, but on the other hand, it's dangerous. When we begin talking about cultures, we begin forgetting about indi….

I've written some short stories about my personal experience, but it's not something you can use everywhere. Every novel, every work of fiction, need….

Maybe divisions like that are easy for people to accept, because then you don't have to make an effort to understand people or appreciate each of the….

We would like to have a great future, so we need to think about the urban philosophy, the urban problems, and the construction of the city. That's th….

It's a bit questionable whether Turkey is a model country or not, since our government is supporting ISIS in Syria, since there are legislations that….

So many academics have been imprisoned or expelled from their university posts just because they signed a letter calling for peaceful solution to the….

"Culture" is a new phenomenon, I believe. Culture is the new religion. People treat you based upon your culture. You are pushed to describe yourself ….

Turkey are the independent people. We are our own nation in this world - a nation of writers, journalists, artists, moviemakers, and academics. We ac….

When you go from one part of the Turkish community to another, it's like you're moving from one century to another. People look at each other in a st….

Laughter is something we have against oppression and oppressive people. Dictators hate people who laugh at them. It's easy for them to destroy people….

Nowadays it's a big issue in Europe because you are forced to describe yourself by your culture, and you begin to forget about yourself, your identit….

Someone might say about a person, "Oh, they are a 'Westerner." But who are Westerners? Greek, Bulgarian, German, English, Scandinavian, Spanish, Amer….