Ali Babacan

Whatever the scenario, the dynamism of developing nations, their demographics and competitive power are great sources for superiority.

Turkey shares Europe's fundamental values of democracy and the rule of law.

It is unfair to ask Turkey to make a unilateral concession to take goods from Cyprus within the customs union when the E.U. is not open to northern Cyprus.

The E.U. initially decided to end the isolation of Turkish Cyprus, to balance the accession of Cyprus. But the E.U. has not carried through on its promise.

Greece is not an easy country to do business in.

Openly speaking, the only formula that will save Greece's future is more trade with Turkey and more investment with Turkey.

'The Economist' is a biased organization.

Those looking from Europe see Turkey as an economic success, whereas others from the Middle East see Turkey as a democratic success.

Turkey is widely envied while there are very serious troubles in the world economy.

A country which has a population 99% as their faith in Islam can also be a country which are subscribing to the universal values of the E.U.

Islam and democracy can function together.

Turkey's energy bill due to imports will fall with the increase in use of renewable energy sources. We have no control over the prices of petroleum and natural gas.

The fast fish, not the big fish, eats the small fish.

Leave history to historians.

Northern Iraq has become, economically, a natural extension of Turkey.

Turkey's economy is powerful enough to tackle tough times.

Turkey will not let Turkish territory or airspace be used in any activity that could harm the security or safety of Syria.

Population is a strong driver of the economy as well as the quality of the labor force.

Turkey does not have an official exchange rate target.

Turkey has a young and growing population. Until recently, this was perceived as a problem, a burden that Turkey would bring to the E.U. But it is, in fact, an asset that can help the population deficit of the E.U. and the economic growth of Turkey.

Turkey is going through an incredible economic, political and social transformation. What is most important is that Turkey has been the owner of this transformation. Ownership has been the key to success.

We have been talking with leaders: Change is coming; you can no longer have a closed regime with an open society - satellites, social media, the Internet - you have this kind, this kind of society moving forward, and you are running this closed regime; this is not sustainable. This cannot continue.

When Turkey buys Iranian oil, we pay for it in Turkish lira... However, it is not possible for Iran to take that money as dollars into its own country due to international restrictions, the U.S.A.'s sanctions. Therefore, when Iran cannot take this money back as currency, they withdraw Turkish lira and buy gold from our market.