A few minutes ago, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has spoken at the opening ceremony of Istanbul European Capital of Culture 2010 events. You can't hear these words from my mouth frequently, but I like his speech.
While talking about the cultural heritage of Istanbul, Erdogan mentioned not only Mehmed II and Suleyman the Magnificent, but also Emperor Constantine and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He honored not only Sinan the Architect, but also Anthemius of Tralles.
"Istanbul is a bit of Sarajevo, a bit of Vienna, Madrid, Rome, Paris," said Erdogan, continuing with several former Ottoman cities in the Near East. Then, he recited the following verses of the Ottoman poet Nedim:
O city of Istanbul, priceless and peerless, I would sacrifice all Persia for one of your stonesAfter finishing the sentence, Erdogan paused. Then, while smiling, he uttered: "I hope the translator didn't make a mistake with my last phrase as we also have visitors from Iran here!" The last quotation may not be the best choice, but I still congratulate Erdogan for this open-minded, balanced speech which was completely in line with the spirit of European Capital of Culture title.
