"We are Turks."

He talks about his visit to the Turkish-Islamic communities. Many Turks there were German citizens, says Hassun. He wondered about why they spoke almost exclusively Turkish. Hassun asked them whether they saw themselves as Turks or German – they had German passports after all. "We are, of course, Turks" was the reply. "If that is so, then why don`t you go back to Turkey?"

~ Sheikh Ahmad Badr Al -Din Hassun, Grand Mufti of Syria, and "close confidant" of Syrian President Bashar al –Assad.

"Father of the Nation." By Manuel Ochsenreiter, Manuel Ochsenreiter – Journalist, 10/21/15.