kolmapäev, juuni 30, 2004
Daily Froomkin
Laura Bush's interview with a Turkish television station:
Q In your words, what does Ataturk mean to you -- have you had a chance to read up on --
MRS. BUSH: Yes, of course. I've read about him. I've read some histories of Turkey before I came, because this is my first visit, and so I wanted to read about Istanbul and about Ankara and about Turkey. And I know that he's the father of modern Turkey, and that what he brought, which I think is very, very important, is a tolerance for the diversity that is Turkey -- a tolerance for every religion, a secular state that allows each religion to flourish in any way that they want to. And I think that's really important.
That's also a very important value of the United States of America. You know, we're very diverse. We're made up of people, immigrants from every country and members of every religion. And we pride ourselves on that, because we think that adds to the diversity and to the richness of the fabric of our country.
Q Absolutely. And he also stressed the importance of having women --
MRS. BUSH: That's right.
Q -- be close to the men in education, wives were in the work force, so that this is how our country would develop, as we have seen in the United States.
MRS. BUSH: Which we think is, of course, so obvious. It should be obvious that if you leave out half of your population, it's really hard to be successful.
Just so we're clear, I think her answer is perfectly acceptable. The question, however, I find ridiculous.
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Laura Bush's interview with a Turkish television station:
Q In your words, what does Ataturk mean to you -- have you had a chance to read up on --
MRS. BUSH: Yes, of course. I've read about him. I've read some histories of Turkey before I came, because this is my first visit, and so I wanted to read about Istanbul and about Ankara and about Turkey. And I know that he's the father of modern Turkey, and that what he brought, which I think is very, very important, is a tolerance for the diversity that is Turkey -- a tolerance for every religion, a secular state that allows each religion to flourish in any way that they want to. And I think that's really important.
That's also a very important value of the United States of America. You know, we're very diverse. We're made up of people, immigrants from every country and members of every religion. And we pride ourselves on that, because we think that adds to the diversity and to the richness of the fabric of our country.
Q Absolutely. And he also stressed the importance of having women --
MRS. BUSH: That's right.
Q -- be close to the men in education, wives were in the work force, so that this is how our country would develop, as we have seen in the United States.
MRS. BUSH: Which we think is, of course, so obvious. It should be obvious that if you leave out half of your population, it's really hard to be successful.
Just so we're clear, I think her answer is perfectly acceptable. The question, however, I find ridiculous.
