President's son tells supporters to order Turkish coffee at Starbucks stores
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan has told his supporters to order Turkish coffee at Starbucks stores, saying that Turkey can be a "strong" country only if it embraces its own identity, faith and culture.
Duvar English
Bilal Erdoğan, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son, has asked his supporters why they go to Starbucks stores, and told them that Turkey can be a "strong" country if citizens embrace the Turkish identity and culture, rather than emulate the West.
"I believe that Turkey can become a strong country by reviving its own identity, living its own culture and displaying its own belief. And we need to spread this into every area of our lives," he said on March 2.
“For example when you go to Starbucks, order Turkish coffee. I'm not telling you not to drink a latte. But don’t sneer at Turkish coffee and see it as a thing of the past. Eat the hamburger, but don’t neglect my Turkish pide.”
Bilal Erdoğan said that Turks were losing their faith, religion, identity and culture in attempts to adapt to the Western cultural traditions.
“If you have a population of 85 million, if such a critical position in the world belongs to you, then freedom means building a future in which we will make our own decisions by embracing our own identity, our own belief, our own culture,” Bilal Erdoğan said.
Bilal Erdoğan made the comments at the opening ceremony of the Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA)'s provincial and district buildings in the northern province of Samsun.
“Let's build our future together with our own identity. Let's keep and protect our own faith and culture more firmly, and let's do the things that will mark the 21st century of the world as a nation. Look where we have come from in these 20 years. Now we can see better what we can do in 20, 40 years from now on,” he further said.