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However, the refusal of the European Union to grant membership to Turkey has played an educative role. It's made us realize that the world does not consist of Western Europe alone, that a country can become strong politically and economically by concentrating, by diversifying its international relations, all the world over, and we have been doing that with increasing success.

— Bülent Ecevit

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More quotes by Bülent Ecevit

Turkey, is the leader country in democracy and secularism among the countries having a majority of Muslim population.

Yet, whatever the negative effects of such external factors may be, surmounting our deficiencies is primarily our own task and responsibility.

However, democracy has survived and will survive in Turkey because the Turkish society is already well beyond the point of return and because the people would not put up with any alternative regime.

Happy Greece has returned to democracy. Only wish is that the new government should realise the value of close cooperation between Turkey and Greece.

The Turks have been Europeans for 600 years. But the Turks are not only Europeans. They are also Asian, Caucasian and Middle Eastern at once.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Bülent Ecevit (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.