Safak Pavey

Bear in mind how valuable a secular Turkey is for the world.

It is well known that Turkey has more imprisoned journalists than any other country, but as a result of the chilling effect of these prosecutions on the press, many stories never make the news.

I certainly do not support excluding faith from public life.

The discourse of the West and the attitudes of its leaders are important because they influence public debate in Turkey.

Priority is placed on the chastity of women. You can be corrupt, or a murderer and still hold your head up high on the street without problems, whereas if there are any suspicions of your chastity and moral behaviour as a woman, you get lynched.

Many female politicians get intimidated by the aggressive behaviour of men. I don't. Not because I am a courageous person or anything, but because I see international standards, and I see that they are worth fighting for.

One of women's greatest values is compassion.

I believe in peace-building in any kind of platform, be it a political platform like Parliament or negotiations like peace-building negotiations.

I come from a fragmented society. A country proud to serve as a bridge between Europe and Asia yet unable to bridge its own differences.

The government in Turkey, which represents the powerful, traditionalist mass, is very comfortable creating policies tailored only for their supporters.

At pivotal moments throughout history, there have always been grey areas, and there likely will be in the future. Courage now lies not in the black and white, as in the past, but in the grey.

Families with disabled children are praying for their kids to die before them because they have no support systems. They are very scared about who will take care of their kids and how their kids will have a dignified life after they die.

The government believed that adherence to authority was human nature, so the Gezi protests were a real surprise to them. After the initial moment of shock, they decided to severely punish those participating in what they called an act of disobedience to authority.