turkish → English transcript

As with Muslims, we have also respected the rights of Christians and Jews.

We have. Today, as the poet put it, half of our heart

is Mecca, the other half Medina. Above them, a veil

like a veil, there is Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, together with us, is the common

cause, memory and shared heritage of the two-billion-strong Islamic world.

Above the land, a banner — the Jerusalem we regard as a magnificent plane tree

We will not permit profane hands to defile the noble Jerusalem.

I know.

I know. The resentment of those who ape Hitler may perhaps

never pass. In the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality

during our mayoralty, the stance we took 27 years ago

they may perhaps never forget it. Let them

continue to have fits of rage. We, as Muslims, will not

take a single step back from our rights over East Jerusalem.

We will not even give up. Considered holy by all Abrahamic religions

for Jerusalem to once again be a city of peace, tranquility, and security

our struggle, with unshakable determination, without slowing down or retreating

without slackening, God willing, will continue. Similarly, based on the

1967 borders, with its capital East