first, here's my take. this was u.n. week, and there was some drama over the issue of the palestinian bid for statehood. but the real action is taking place now as the world's finance ministers and leader meet to talk about money. i think it's fair to say that we are confronting the worst economic moment since the days after the collapse of lehman brothers in 2008. growth has slowed in europe and the united states, and it is slower even in the bubbling, emerging markets. some european countries now have deep problems with their debt burdens that appear unmanageable, and that problem is spreading to major european countries like italy. europe's banks have too little capital and too much bad debt on their books. they are posed for a lehman-like event. and here's the worst part -- in light of these problems, key governments are doing almost nothing. the real culprits are the leaders of europe. they have been kicking the can down the road for two years. they now have to face the fact that the euro was badly created. mixing together economies of very different characters, and they have to fix it. that could mean a smaller, stronger euro zone which is to say letting countries like greece exit or it could be figuring out a way to let greece default and shore up italy and spain. i've argued that the best solution would be to get the imf money from countries like china and use it to restructure, create a long-term reform program for italy and spain. there are other ideas like eurobonds which would allow countries like greece to borrow at german-subsidized rates. but europe's leaders need to do something to deal with these urgent problems. in the united states, we talk a great deal about the jobs issue, but who is actually doing much about it? president obama's jobs plan which is pretty good is going nowhere in congress. and he hasn't helped matters by presenting a gimmicky and totally inadequate plan to fund that program and cut the budget deficit. the market keeps telling us by the ever-falling interest rate that what it fears is another recession, not inflation. everywhere leaders all seem to assume that if they just keep things steady, something will miraculously happen to solve the problems and jumpstart growth. it won't. the problems are actually getting worse, and by sticking their heads in the sand, leaders are making the inevitable crises only worse. let's get started. my first guest was arguably the man of the week at the united nations. the man everyone wanted to meet, everyone wanted to talk to. the powerbroker. the prime minister of turkey and that country's most powerful leader since ada turk. president obama has spoken to him nine times. no other head of state can claim to have gotten more attention. turkey has historically straddled the east and west, islam and christianity. now erdogan is looking toward a new set of alliances. joining the eu is no longer a big priority. the long-term alliance with america no longer dominates his thinking. erdogan is all too aware that these policies are boosting his standing as a populist hero in the middle east. you may not like everything he has to say, you may not agree with it, but listen because his voice may be the voice of the new middle east. economically dynamic, politically confident, g geopolitically savvy. mr. prime minister, thank you for joining us. >> translator: i would like to thank you for preparing such an opportunity for me. >> let me ask you about one of your neighbors with whom you have had some trouble, israel. do you think relations between turkey and israel are broken? can they ever get back to what they were? >> translator: for the time being, i can clearly and frankly state that the relations between israel and turkey have been broken on the basis of an issue that is being raised by israel which began when the flotilla bearing humanitarian aid was trying to get to gaza. it had passengers from 33 different countries and was attacked both from the sea and the air. at the end of these attacks, nine turkish citizens died. one of them is an american citizen of turkish descent. and the american citizen's rights have not been defended by the united states. still, to this day, no serious attitude has been adopted against israel for the life lost there. is it because he was of turkish descent? we're very upset about this. in this situation, no matter who we are speaking about, democracy, rights, and freedom should be defended. whoever, whoever is in question if rights, if liberty is in question, it should be defended. we gave our warnings to israel. this is the reason for war. this is something you cannot do in international waters, but as a great state, we have been very forgiving. that's why we have been very patient. we've demanded they apologize, pay compensation, and eliminate the embargo on gaza once and for all. if these demands are not met, relations between turkey and israel will never become noernlnoernl -- become normal again. we have nothing against the people of israel but against the attitude adopted by the administration of israel. and if you're insistent on creating a source of inrest, you are bound to become lonelier and lonelier. they used to be good friends of ours, and this solitude is israel's fate under these circumstances. israel is going to be alone in the region. >> do you believe that there will be turkish escorts for the next flotillas that go into gaza, that go and try to break the embargo? >> translator: it might be gaza. it might be egypt for which there are humanitarian missions. but after such an incident took place, there is a lack of confidence in security. so these flotillas might be dispatched to wherever they're going with the escort of the navy. because israel cannot be trusted. >> were you very close to a deal that the obama administration was trying to arrive at between the turkish government and the israeli government, and did the israeli government at the last minute back out? >> translator: we have conveyed our impressions to mr. obama along with many different related institutions. turkey is very frank in its delivery, and we stand behind our remarks. here's what's being said, and this is upsetting to hear. they say that palestine is bombing and disturbing the people of israel, and many israelis have been killed. i'm very clear in my remarks. i would like to see accurate statistics of how many israelis have been killed by the bombs thrown by palestinians or with the rockets that were launched by them. 10, 20, 100, 200, how many? please document it. let us know. but on the other hand, we know that hundreds of thousands of palestinians were killed. only as a result of the gaza attack, thousands of people were killed. these are very clear remarks. the israeli people are only resorting back to the issue of genocide in history and using that genocide, they're always acting as if they are the victims all the time. we said for that, go ask germany to pay its dues, and they have. so germany has paid and is still paying its dues to israel. but neither turkey nor the muslims in the region have such a problem. they have never exerted such cruelty on israel. but israel is very cruel in that regard. it shows no mercy. i can never forget the screams of the children that were killed on that beach while trying to hide behind the legs of their fathers or while their fathers were trying to protect them in their arms. i can never forget those scenes because i am a father, too. at home with my wife, my children, we watched those scenes together. i saw seven people getting killed as a result of one attack. these are the israeli acts that are inexplicable. if you want normalization, you have to take certain steps to restore peace and stop causing unrest. israel possesses nuclear bombs. israel possesses heavy weaponry. israel possesses phosphorous bombs and weapons of mass destruction. what is it they don't have? they have it all, but i might ask you the same question -- what does palestine possess? how do you think palestine is capable of killing as many israeli people as claimed? let's stop deceiving each other because the human race will no longer be deceived. everybody knows what israel is about. >> syria, it seems to me that the way turkey's diplomacy moved on the syrian issue, that you were deceived by the syrian government and were given assurances that they would cease their violence and that those assurances were then not followed through. many people would say that this was obvious, that assad was a brutal dictator. but yet, you trusted him. you vacationed with him. do you think you misjudged him? do you think you made a mistake? >> translator: let me say we never had a vacation together. he has only been my invitee, i had always invited him to come to our region which is known to be a holiday region for the turkish people. he was our guest, but we never vacationed together. but every time he would come to turkey, of course, we would get together and talk about the relations between syria and turkey in the same way i went to syria several times, and then there were meetings with our president, as well. let me say something very frankly and currently. we act on principles. principles. these principles are the determining factors for me. you and i, we can be friends, brothers today. but if one day you clash with the determining principles of democracy, and if you are going to act against the fundamental rights, liberties, and the law, you will lose your position in my heart as my brother and my friend. this is exactly what happened. i was very patient. patience, patience, patience. and then i cracked. >> do you believe, prime minister, that the current government of syria can last? do you think one year from now bashar assad will still be president of syria? tra >> translator: there is something i always say -- you can never be happy through tyranny or cruelty. you can never remain in power through cruelty. you can never stand before the will of the people. this process might be extended a little bit more, but sooner or later in syria, if people take a different decision, that decision is going to be catered to. such as in egypt, such as in tunisia, such as in libya. people want to be free, and they are struggling to earn that freedom. one by one, dictatorial systems are burning down to the ground. autocratic systems are getting eliminated once and for all to move toward democratic systems. >> much more with turkey's prime minister coming up in just a moment. is he leading his nation down an islamist path, and what about his relationship with the west, and what does he think of president obama? we'll be right back. ghway mainte is underfunded, costing drivers $67 billion a year, and countless tires. which drivers never actually check because they're busy, checking email. this is why we engineered a car that makes 2,000 decisions every second. the new audi a6 is here. the road is now an intelligent place. ♪ down the hill? 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[♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. and we are back with turkey's prime minister, tayyip erdogan, the power broker of the le middle east, to talk about democracy and the west. a lot of people will listen to you and will see your actions particularly in the united states, and they say that this is part of a new islamic foreign policy that turkey has, that you are embracing a kind of foreign policy that is very different from what turkey has pursued since the time of ataturk, and it is an effort to bring a kind of islamic ideology to turkey's foreign policy. how would you respond? >> translator: mr. zakaria, this is how i perceive the situation. we are a team focused on common intellect. we don't want to see the clash of civilizations in this world, we want to see the alliance of civilizations. the world is so fed up with wars. trillions and trillions of dollars are being allocated to weaponry to the armament industry. that's not the kind of world that people want to live in anymore. >> the question, though, that many people have is, are you taking turkey down a different path since the time of ataturk? are you taking it on a foreign policy that will be not pro-western anymore, that is not -- does not see its historical destiny with the west that is more islamic, that is more populist? when you go to cairo now, you have become a rock star. there are big photographs and posters of you because of your embrace of the palestinian position. is this a new populist, islamic, turkish foreign policy? >> translator: mr. zakaria, i'm not a rock star, i'm a politician. but i can say very clearly that, look, everything that the western world does is not necessarily right. we work on adopting the science of the west. we work on adopting whatever has been developed and whatever is beautiful in the west. but let's not forget there are really beautiful things in the east, as well. do not leave the eastern parts of the world aside. we're always running after science, after intellect, we seek out knowledge from whichever part of the world that is most of that, then we extract and adopt it. >> you've tried to maintain good relations with iran. but you have recently agreed to site an american radar on turkish territory, and it has drawn severe criticism from the iranian government. do you believe that iran right now is a country with which we could -- the international community can have a constructive dialogue to monitor its nuclear program, or is iran in your view a country that has to be watched and contained carefully? >> translator: there are two things that should not be confused here. first, the plans to install the missile defense base. the radar base in turkey is a nato concept. no specific country has ever been referred to. we don't think iran should get offended when there is no reason. we don't want to see israel coming up with different interpretations from what is actually the reality. if iran is interpreting it in a different way, it is their decision. i am speaking very frankly. unless turkey is attacked, we will never allow iran to be attacked from the turkish territory. but why is it that the country's banning iran from having the nuclear weapons don't also ban israel from having nuclear weapons? israel possesses atomic and nuclear weaponry. what is the excuse? that israel is under siege? but israel is the only country in the region possessing nuclear weapons. in the north, only russia has nuclear weapons. and iran says that its only purpose is to generate affordable energy through nuclear power. we don't want to act on presumptions. and no sanctions based on presumptions are acceptable by turkey. >> let me ask you a final question, mr. prime minister. you've had a lot of dealings with president obama. how does he strike you as a leader on the world stage? >> translator: personally, unlike hussein, obama is someone i really like. and vis-a-vis his policies and his implementations, i want him to be much more successful. when he assumed the office, there was a huge economic difficulty on his shoulders. had he surmounted those economic difficulties, he would have been much more relieved today. and at that point, in the general elections that are going to be held in about 400 days, i wish him the best of luck because i've had the chance to get to know him better one way or the other. whether it be our mutual or bilateral talks, whether it be our talk on the phone. many times, they were very frequent actually, even more frequent than they've ever been before. from a strategic partnership to a modeled partnership, turkey and the united states have taken relations to a much higher level. i don't know who the republican candidates will be, but of course we shall always respect the choices of the american people because the relations between america and turkey, whether the democrats or the republicans have been in office, have always been very positive. i hope and pray that they will be just as good in the days to follow. and i wish that these elections will bring the most useful results for world peace for the people of america and for the american political life. >> mr. prime minister, thank you very much. >> thank you. translator: i would like to convey the best of regards to thespire american nation. who have been watching on behalf of myself and on behalf of my people, thank you. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is lara. her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. might have seemed to be the center of the world. but the political story that struck me came not from the corridors of the united nations but thousands of miles away in the city state of berlin, germany. you might have heard about the group called the pirate party that has burst on to germany's political scene. ♪ >> the "economist idea idea magazine jokingly writes that it sounds like a party whose name was dreamed up at oktoberfest, germany's annual beer festival. actually, its ideology centers around internet freedom. its members are tech-savvy youngsters who wear hooded sweatshirts, throw cool parties, and play up their group's name with pirate boats like this one. [ horn ] >> but don't let the cool facade fool you. they won 9% of the vote in berlin's parliamentary elections. that puts them well ahead of the lose a fair free democratic party, a long-established party and part of angela merkel's established coalition. so what is going on? well, it turns out their movement was founded in sweden five years ago with a focus on copyright and patent law. it has since spread to a number of european countries and even the united states. but the germany offshoot is broadening its focus and says it is about bringing politics back to the people. >> we use democracy to use liquid feedback -- >> liquid feedback is a phrase that struck a chord. it's designed to empower citizens to use quick polls on the internet to shape how their representatives vote on a given issue. you might think the last thing we need is more political pandering, but the pirate party is one