And that's something which I'd like to elaborate on.

So when Arab socialism started in Egypt, it spread across the region.

And I think the getaway message from that would be that Islam, despite some of the skeptics in the West, has the potential in itself to create its own way to democracy, create its own way to liberalism, create its own way to freedom.

Turkey has been able to reasonably create a success story in which Islam and the most pious understandings of Islam have become part of the democratic game, and even contributes to the democratic and economic advance of the country.

(Applause)

Here's another cartoon.

But the pro E.U. sentiment in Turkey in the past decade has become almost an Islamic cause and supported by the Islamic liberals and the secular liberals as well, of course.

Phrases and snippets taken out of context in what I call the highlighter version, which is the one favored by both Muslim fundamentalists and anti Muslim Islamophobes.

But actually going out to propagate that view is associated with either neoconservativism or with Islamist extremism.

So, I do not want the qualification to be used to name the opponents to the Malian regime

But the fact that those dictators suppressed democracy in their country and suppressed Islamic groups in their country actually made the Islamists much more strident.

So as I said, we looked to the status quo and ridiculed it.

Islamism meaning those who wish to impose one version of Islam over the rest of society why is it that they are succeeding in organizing in a globalized way, whereas those who aspire to democratic culture are falling behind?

The signs don't look good, some have said.

And in place of that, what happens is that Islamism grows as an ideology which is authoritarian, which is quite strident, which is quite anti Western, and which wants to shape society based on a utopian vision.

The time has come to tell the truth.

And it is no secret that many Islamic movements in the Middle East tend to be authoritarian, and some of the so called Islamic regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and the worst case was the Taliban in Afghanistan they are pretty authoritarian.

There is no equivalent of the Al Qaeda, without the terrorism, for democracy across Muslim majority societies.

Do not forget that fascism, communism, capitalism or other isms are all monetary systems.

Before, revolutions used to have ideological names.

Communist, Nazi, fascist ...

Many people have laid down their lives for communism, and many have laid down their lives for capitalism.

Communism, capitalism...

And the pious Muslims in Turkey saw that they can change the political system by voting.

Ah! This pretext is still used today to justify the war in Mali.

The Limits of Democracy

The constitution's gone.

(Laughter)

Soviet Union was Communist and it was totalitarian. Communism and democracy are not necessarily things that go against each other.

But the Soviet Union had neither a capitalist system nor a democracy.

So what does this tell us?

Now I should know, because for 13 years of my life,

And I was actually a potent force in spreading ideas across borders, and I witnessed the rise of Islamist extremism as distinct from Islam the faith, and the way in which it influenced my co religionists across the world.

Democracy Comes Second

Kuwaiti Democracy in Action

But, we can escape from this trap, these pincers, I think.

And what do we teach in these schools?

Is that democracy?

Aren't those just the foundations of xenophobia and authoritarianism and Puritanism?

If you are a Republican, you can take a Democrat to lunch, or if you're a Democrat, think of it as taking a Republican to lunch.

I thought this was a democracy and I thought the democracy is based to the collective will of the people.

In Libya, in Tunisia, in Egypt, or then again in Syria, the aim was and is still today to overthrow moderate powers, to replace them by Islamist powers who very quickly, will become troublesome and that we will shamelessly attack pretending once again, to fight terrorism or protect Israel.

You see, idealism detached from action is just a dream.

It has to be one of the multiple ironies of history that a favorite expletive of Muslim fundamentalists is the same one once used by the Christian fundamentalists known as Crusaders infidel, from the Latin for faithless.

You a vegetarian?