Mustafa Eric

“The title of the article sums up his argument very neatly: `Arap Harflerini de Cebrail Getirmemisti ya' (Gabriel didn't bring the Arabic letters too, you know) (Levend 1972: 397).”
― Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success

“They got back the Senate but we have the courts. By the nineties the Supreme Court will be block-solid Republican appointees, and the federal bench—Republican judges like land mines, everywhere, everywhere they turn. Affirmative action? Take it to court. Boom! Land mine. And”
― Tony Kushner, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete Edition

“These articles urged the gradual adoption of the Latin alphabet and prophesied that the change was bound to come. The writer propounded a problem, and invited a reply from the $eyhulislatn or the Fetva Emini:7
Franstzlar lslamiyetin esaslarnu pek makul bularak millet4e ihtida etmek istiyorlar! Acaba onlari Miisluman addedebilmek icin o pek zarif dillerinin Arap harfleriyle yazthnasi tart-t esasi mi ittihaz edilecek? 'Evet' cevabini beklemedigim halde alusam kemal-i cesar- etle'Siz bu zihniyetle diinyayi Musluman edemezsiniz' mukabelesinde bulunurum,'Hayir, beis yok' cevabtnt alirsam:'Biz Turklerin de Latin harflerini kullamnamiza miisaade bah. eder bir fetva veriniz' ricastnt serdedecegitn. Hayir, Fransizlar ne kadar az Arap iseler, biz de o kadar az Arabiz.
The French, finding the principles of our religion very reasonable, wish to convert en masse to Islam! Before they can be accepted as Muslims, will it be obligatory for that very elegant language of theirs to be written in the Arabic letters? I do not expect the answer to be'Yes', but if it is I shall make so bold as to reply,'With this mentality you cannot make the world Muslim.' If I am given the answer'No, there is no harm in it' l shall make this request:'Give a fetva permitting us Turks also to use the Latin letters.' No, we are no more Arab than the French are.”
― Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success

“The trouble was that, although Atatiirk liked nothing better than a good argument, none of his intimates had the guts to say `Very amusing as an after-dinner game, Pasha, but we mustn't take it too seriously, must we?' On the contrary, they
played the same game. This being long before the age of political correctness, Samih Rifat, the president of TDK, found the origin of the Western word academy in the Turkish ak `white' and adam [A] `man'.”
― Geoffrey Lewis, The Turkish Language Reform: A Catastrophic Success