“The clock is ticking as nature attempts to absorb the increased greenhouse gas emissions.” Quote by Ernest Moniz
“Words are heavy in Turkey, and every writer, every poet and every journalist knows that, because of a word, because of a sentence, because of a tweet or even a retweet, you can be sued, you can be demonized by the media and you can even land in prison.” KnowsLandMediaPoetPrisonHeavySentencesJournalistTurkeysTweetRetweet Author:Elif Safak
“When I am writing political op-eds, I do think carefully about the impact of my words. When I am writing fiction, it's a different story. In my fiction I am more reckless. I don't care about the real world until I am done with the book.” ThinkingWorldWritingBookDifferentRealDoneStoriesCarePoliticalFictionImpactDon't CareI Don't CareReal WorldRecklessWriting Fiction Author:Elif Safak
“I remember a time when it was ok to make fun of politicians and powerful people. Now, it's not ok anymore. We've forgotten how to laugh.” PeopleRememberFunPowerfulLaughingPoliticianForgotten Author:Elif Safak
“Our politics is very masculine, very aggressive, and it's very polarizing. And the pace of this development has increased in recent years. Erdogan is, in my eyes, the most polarizing politician in recent Turkish political history.” YearsEyePoliticalDevelopmentPoliticianPaceAggressiveMasculineTurkishPolitical HistoryPolarizingErdogan Author:Elif Safak
“Almost half of the Turkish population believes it is not legitimate to criticize the government. Interestingly, this correlates with the number of supporters of Erdogan's government.” BelieveGovernmentNumbersHalfPopulationCriticizeSupporterTurkishErdogan Author:Elif Safak
“Many analysts compare Turkey with countries in the Middle East, but I think we need to compare it with Russia. Both countries come from a tradition of empire, and also from a tradition of the strong state.” ThinkingNeedsCountryStatesStrongMiddleTraditionEastRussiaCompareEmpiresMiddle EastTurkeysAnalysts Author:Elif Safak
“In a normal democracy, you protect the individual from the excessive power of the state. In Turkey, power elites try to protect the state - as if this state were fragile and needed protection - when in fact, it's too powerful already.” IfsTryingStatesFactsIndividualPowerfulDemocracyNeededProtectNormalProtectionFragileElitesTurkeys Author:Elif Safak
“I am very worried about this concentration of power, and it's not only because of Erdogan. We have the ballot box, but we don't have the culture of democracy. The government says: You see, we have the majority, we're entitled to do anything we want. But that's not democracy, that's majoritarianism.” WantGovernmentCultureDemocracyMajorityBoxesWorriedConcentrationEntitledBallotsErdogan Author:Elif Safak
“Obviously, Turkey is not a typical authoritarian regime, and obviously it's very important that there are free elections. But it's also obvious that this is not a liberal, mature democracy. This is why I call Turkey a wobbly democracy. At any time, it can tip over and fall down.” ImportantFallDemocracyElectionObviousMatureRegimesTypicalTurkeysFalling DownFree Elections Author:Elif Safak
“Sometimes I feel I have more faith in European ideals than some of my British or French friends. For them, it's a financial burden. For me, Europe is primarily about values, about fundamental rights, freedom, women's rights.” FeelsSometimesValuesRightsEuropeIdealsFundamentalsFinancialBurdenBritishWomens RightsFundamental RightsFinancial Burden Author:Elif Safak