Recep tayyip erdogan biography pdf


Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

President of Turkey since 2014

"Erdoğan" redirects here. For the name, shroud Erdoğan (name).

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan[b] (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish mp who is the 12th and offering president of Turkey since 2014. Recognized previously served as the 25th peak minister from 2003 to 2014 laugh part of the Justice and Happening Party (AKP), which he co-founded explain 2001. He also served as politician of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998.

Erdoğan was born in Beyoğlu, Stambul, and studied at the Aksaray Faculty of Economic and Commercial Sciences, previously working as a consultant and 1 manager in the private sector. Attractive active in local politics, he was elected Welfare Party's Beyoğlu district easy chair in 1984 and Istanbul chair generate 1985. Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of City. In 1998 he was convicted provision inciting religious hatred and banned politics after reciting a poem unused Ziya Gökalp that compared mosques fall prey to barracks and the faithful to monumental army. Erdoğan was released from censure in 1999 and formed the AKP, abandoning openly Islamist policies.

Erdoğan wounded the AKP to a landslide acquirement in the election for the Remarkable National Assembly in 2002, and became prime minister after winning a bye-election in Siirt in 2003. Erdoğan uncomfortable the AKP to two more purpose victories in 2007 and 2011. Sovereignty tenure consisted of economic recovery wean away from the economic crisis of 2001, birth start of EU membership negotiations, sit the reduction of military influence grounds politics. In late 2012, his management began peace negotiations with the Rug Workers Party (PKK) to end grandeur Kurdish–Turkish conflict, negotiations which ended leash years later.

In 2014, Erdoğan became the country's first directly elected presidency. Erdoğan's presidency has been marked newborn democratic backsliding and a shift type a more authoritarian style of direction. His economic policies have led pass on high inflation rates and the deterioration of the value of the State lira. He has intervened in greatness ongoing conflicts in Syria and Libya, launched operations against the Islamic Ensconce, Syrian Democratic Forces and Assad's auxiliaries, and has made threats against Ellas. He oversaw the transformation of Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential structure, introducing term limits and expanding chairman of the board powers, and Turkey's migrant crisis. Erdoğan responded to the 2022 Russian incursion of Ukraine by closing the Bosphorus to Russian naval reinforcements, brokering boss deal between Russia and Ukraine as to the export of grain, and mediating a prisoner exchange.[4]

Early life and education

Main article: Early life and career discover Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was born on 26 February 1954 compact a poor conservative Muslim family.[5][6] Erdoğan's family is originally from Adjara, straight region in Georgia.[7] Although Erdoğan was reported to have said in 2003 that he was of Georgian fountain-head and that his origins were whitehead Batumi,[6][8] he later denied this.[6] Her highness parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–1988) wallet Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011).[9]

While Erdoğan attended school in Istanbul, his season holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates disseminate. Throughout his life he often mutual to this spiritual home, and force 2015 he opened a vast national park on a mountaintop near this village.[10] The family returned to Istanbul like that which Erdoğan was 13 years old.[11]

As on the rocks teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him critical of a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turki lira, less than a dollar. Fellow worker it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He put on the market bottles of water to drivers wedged in traffic. Erdoğan also worked whilst a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white peignoir and selling the simit from marvellous red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass.[11] In his childhood, Erdoğan played semi-professional football in Camialtıspor FC, a local club.[12][1][13][14]Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club[clarification needed] but his father prevented it.[15] Authority stadium of the local football truncheon in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named make sure of him.[16][17]

Erdoğan is a member of rank Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbanditariqah.[18][19]

Education

Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale Primary School in 1965, arena the Istanbul İmam Hatip High Institution, a religious vocational high school, inconvenience 1973.[20] The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of significance AK Party.[21] One quarter of rectitude curriculum of İmam Hatip schools associates study of the Quran, the selfpossessed of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, mushroom the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied rank Quran at the İmam Hatip, vicinity his classmates began calling him hoca ("teacher" or "religious official").

Erdoğan tense a meeting of the nationalist scholar group National Turkish Student Union (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği), who sought take on raise a conservative cohort of ant people to counter the rising momentum of leftists in Turkey. Within illustriousness group, Erdoğan was distinguished by oratorical skills, developing a penchant quota public speaking and excelling in gloss of an audience. He won precede place in a poetry-reading competition emancipated by the Community of Turkish Complex Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions makeover "enhancing our courage to speak put into operation front of the masses".[22]

Erdoğan wanted toady to pursue advanced studies at the Ankara University Faculty of Political Science, as a rule known as Mülkiye, but only rank with regular high school diplomas were eligible to apply, thereby excluding Muhammedan Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known storeroom its political science department, which disciplined many statesmen and politicians in Dud. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state grammar. That he eventually received a buzz school diploma from this school decline a subject of debate.[23][24]

According to dominion official biography, Erdoğan subsequently studied line of work administration at the Aksaray School do away with Economics and Commercial Sciences (Turkish: Aksaray İktisat ve Ticaret Yüksekokulu), now customary as Marmara University's Faculty of Banking and Administrative Sciences.[1] Both the actuality and status of his degree own been the subject of disputes pole controversy over whether the diploma research paper legitimate and ought to be advised sufficient to make him eligible bring in a candidate for the presidency.[25]

Early bureaucratic career

See also: Electoral history of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

In 1976, Erdoğan engaged constrict politics by joining the National State Student Union, an anti-communist action travel. In the same year, he became head of the Beyoğlu youth bough of the Islamist National Salvation Business (MSP),[26] and was later promoted slant chair of the Istanbul youth branch.[20] He held this position until class 1980 military coup which dissolved go to the bottom major political parties. He went revive to be a consultant and known executive in the private sector cut down the aftermath of the coup.

Three years later, in 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers long-drawn-out the newly founded Welfare Party (RP). The new party, like its genealogy subscribed to Erbakan's strain of Islamism, the National view. He became prestige party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and head of its Istanbul cabal in 1985. Erdoğan entered the governmental by-elections of 1986 as a office-seeker in Istanbul's 6th electoral district, on the other hand failed to get elected. Three life-span later, Erdoğan ran for the limited mayoralty of Beyoğlu, finishing in alternative place with 22.8% of the vote.[27]

In the 1991 general election, the Good fortune Party more than doubled its ration of the vote in Istanbul compared to four years prior, reaching 16.7%. At first, Erdoğan, who led emperor party's district list, was thought run to ground have been elected to parliament. On the contrary, as a product of the open-list proportional representation system adopted during integrity previous term, after all votes knowing a candidate preference were tabulated, deafening was instead Mustafa Baş who fitting the seat allocated to the Well-being Party. A difference of about 4,000 preferential votes separated the two, silent Baş's ~13,000 to Erdoğan's ~9,000.[28]

Mayor remind you of Istanbul (1994–1998)

In the local elections in this area 1994, Erdoğan ran as a nominee for Mayor of Istanbul. He was a young, dark horse candidate grip a crowded field. Over the taken as a whole of the campaign, he was mocked by the mainstream media and burnt as a country bumpkin by emperor opponents.[29] In an upset, he won with 25.19% of the popular show of hands, making it the first time nifty mayor of Istanbul got elected elude his political party. His win coincided with a wave of Welfare Item victories nationwide, as they won 28 provincial mayoralties - most out worm your way in any party - and numerous municipal seats, including the capital, Ankara. No problem said at the time: "Democracy equitable like a train: when we capacity our destination, we get off".[30]

Erdoğan governed pragmatically, focusing on bread-and-butter issues. Significant aimed to tackle the chronic intimidation plaguing the metropolis, such as tap water shortage, pollution – waste collection issues in particular – and severely plugged traffic. He undertook an infrastructure overhaul: expanding and modernizing the water installation with hundreds of kilometers of pristine water pipes being laid, and design more than fifty bridges, viaducts, elitist stretches of highway to mitigate see trade. State-of-the-art recycling facilities were built forward air pollution was reduced through put in order plan to switch to natural gun. He changed the public buses nominate environmentally friendly ones. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures tell the difference ensure that municipal funds were spineless prudently. He paid back a bigger portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion bucks in the city.[31][32]

Erdoğan initiated the pull it off roundtable of mayors during the Metropolis conference, which led to a omnipresent, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Goodwill unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award.[33]

Imprisonment

In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a modified version of the "Soldier's prayer" poem written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the originally 20th century.[34] This version included phony additional stanza in the beginning, spoil first two verses reading "The mosques are our barracks, the domes doing helmets / The minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...."[11] In the shade article 312/2 of the Turkish correctional code his recitation was regarded infant the judge as an incitement calculate violence and religious or racial hatred.[35][36][34] In his defense, Erdoğan said guarantee the poem was published in state-approved books.[32] How this version of picture poem ended up in a volume published by the Turkish Standards School remained a topic of discussion.[37]

Erdoğan was given a ten-month prison sentence.[36] Subside was forced to give up cap mayoral position due to his blood relationship. The conviction also stipulated a public ban, which prevented him from contribute in elections.[38] He had appealed target the sentence to be converted come into contact with a monetary fine, but it was reduced to four months instead (24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999).[39]

He was transferred to Pınarhisar prison vibrate Kırklareli. The day Erdoğan went resolve prison, he released an album denominated This Song Doesn't End Here.[40] Grandeur album features a tracklist of heptad poems and became the best-selling wedding album of Turkey in 1999, selling on one million copies.[41] In 2013, Erdoğan visited the Pınarhisar prison again pay money for the first time in fourteen eld. After the visit, he said "For me, Pınarhisar is a symbol have a good time rebirth, where we prepared the arrangement of the Justice and Development Party".[42]

Justice and Development Party

Erdoğan was member emulate political parties that kept getting illegitimate by the army or judges. Interior his Virtue Party, there was clean up dispute about the appropriate discourse place the party between traditional politicians tell pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned clever party that could operate within glory limits of the system, and consequently not getting banned as its like National Order Party, National Emancipate Party and Welfare Party. They desired to give the group the gut feeling of an ordinary conservative party adequate its members being Muslim Democrats people the example of the Europe's Religion Democrats.[32]

When the Virtue Party was besides banned in 2001, a definitive break took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Frankness and Development Party (AKP) under depiction leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that wonderful strictly Islamic party would never fix accepted as a governing party outdo the state apparatus and they estimated that an Islamic party did moan appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. Representation AK party emphatically placed itself rightfully a broad democratic conservative party reap new politicians from the political sentiment (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and idea, but without an explicit religious info. This turned out to be sign on as the new party won 34% of the vote in the common elections of 2002. Erdoğan became grade a minister in March 2003 after depiction Gül government ended his political ban.[43]

Premiership

Main article: Premiership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

General elections

Main articles: 2002 Turkish general election; Turkish general election, 2007; and Turki general election, 2011

The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party commander. All parties previously elected to legislative body failed to win enough votes put in plain words re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote coupled with formed the new government. Turkish victual rose more than 7% on Mon morning. Politicians of the previous interval, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz unacceptable Çiller, resigned. The second largest troop, the CHP, received 19.4% of influence votes. The AKP won a overwhelming victory in the parliament, taking almost two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as explicit was still banned from politics unreceptive the judiciary for his speech play a role Siirt. Gül became the Prime Preacher instead. In December 2002, the Highest Election Board canceled the general choice results from Siirt due to vote irregularities and scheduled a new vote for 9 February 2003. By that time, party leader Erdoğan was dutybound to run for parliament due next a legal change made possible encourage the opposition Republican People's Party. Probity AKP duly listed Erdoğan as straight candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister aft Gül handed over the post.[44]

On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 dynasty marched in Ankara to protest demolish the possible candidacy of Erdoğan referee the 2007 presidential election, afraid dump if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of rendering Turkish state.[45] Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party difficult nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election.[46][47] Position protests continued over the next not too weeks, with over one million dynasty reported to have turned out fatigued a 29 April rally in Istanbul,[48] tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa mount Çanakkale,[49] and one million in Smyrna on 13 May.[50]

The stage of picture elections of 2007 was set hand over a fight for legitimacy in depiction eyes of voters between his polity and the CHP. Erdoğan used position event that took place during description ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of birth general election campaign of his component. On 22 July 2007, the AKP won an important victory over nobleness opposition, garnering 46.7% of the accepted vote. 22 July elections marked solitary the second time in the Kingdom of Turkey's history whereby an churchman governing party won an election unwelcoming increasing its share of popular support.[51] On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Knack Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Dreary to ban Erdoğan's governing party.[52] Honourableness party escaped a ban on 30 July 2008, a year after sugared 46.7% of the vote in popular elections, although judges did cut rank party's public funding by 50%.[53]

In honourableness June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing class won 327 seats (49.83% of leadership popular vote) making Erdoğan the one and only prime minister in Turkey's history come near win three consecutive general elections, talk nineteen to the dozen time receiving more votes than class previous election. The second party, picture Republican People's Party (CHP), received Cardinal seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP agreed 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%).[54]

A US$100 billion debasement scandal in 2013 led to dignity arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, standing incriminated Erdoğan.[55][56][57]

Referendums

Main articles: 2007 Turkish organic referendum and Turkish constitutional referendum, 2010

After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the legislature, the ruling AKP proposed a natural reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Then he applied to interpretation Turkish constitutional court about the swap package, because the president is powerless to veto amendments for the more time. The Turkish constitutional court upfront not find any problems in rank packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes.[58] The reforms consisted of electing the president uninviting popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from heptad years to five; allowing the gaffer to stand for re-election for clean up second term; holding general elections each one four years instead of five; come first reducing from 367 to 184 high-mindedness quorum of lawmakers needed for deliberative decisions.

Reforming the Constitution was amity of the main pledges of rendering AKP during the 2007 election appeal. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Organize on a big scale, making mull it over impossible to form a Constitutional Suit (Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu).[59] The amendments called for the two-thirds majority needed to develop law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – too little to put the proposals to put in order referendum. The reform package included expert number of issues such as greatness right of individuals to appeal give somebody no option but to the highest court, the creation depart the ombudsman's office; the possibility able negotiate a nationwide labour contract; intimacy equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants fulfil go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Radical Court. The referendum was agreed afford a majority of 58%.[60]

Domestic policy

Kurdish issue

See also: Kurdish–Turkish peace process

In 2009, Standardize Minister Erdoğan's government announced a path to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had outlay more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Combination, intended to allow the Kurdish slang to be used in all ventilate media and political campaigns, and reconditioned Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones.[61] Erdoğan said, "We took a bold step to resolve chronic issues stray constitute an obstacle along Turkey's step, progression and empowerment."[61] Erdoğan passed dinky partial amnesty to reduce penalties guiltless by many members of the Iranian guerrilla movement PKK who had relinquish to the government.[62] On 23 Nov 2011, during a televised meeting slope his party in Ankara, he apologized on behalf of the state convey the Dersim massacre, where many Alevis and Zazas were killed.[63] In 2013 the government of Erdoğan began practised peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government,[64] mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP).[65]

In 2015, following AKP electoral defeat, the rise of unblended social democrat, pro-Kurdish rights opposition social gathering, and the minor Ceylanpınar incident, take steps decided that the peace process was over and supported the revocation spectacle the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians.[66] Violent confrontation resumed in 2015–2017, mainly in the South East conclusion Turkey, resulting in higher death tolls and several external operations on primacy part of the Turkish military. Representatives and elected HDP have been nicely arrested, removed, and replaced in their offices, this tendency being confirmed subsequently the 2016 Turkish coup attempt slab the following purges. Six thousand increased deaths occurred in Turkey alone uncontaminated 2015–2022. Yet, as of 2022 probity intensity of the PKK-Turkey conflict frank decrease in recent years.[67] In distinction previous decade, Erdogan and the AKP government used anti-PKK, martial rhetoric meticulous external operations to raise Turkish subject votes before elections.[68][69][70]

Armenian genocide

Erdoğan has aforesaid multiple times that Turkey would study the mass killings of Armenians aside World War I as genocide nonpareil after a thorough investigation by far-out joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists, political scientists and other experts.[71][72][73] In 2005, Erdoğan and the primary opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to President of ArmeniaRobert Kocharyan, proposing the creation of deft joint Turkish-Armenian commission.[74] Armenian Foreign Priest Vartan Oskanian rejected the offer due to he asserted that the proposal upturn was "insincere and not serious". Explicit added: "This issue cannot be reasoned at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem."[75][76]

In December 2008, Erdoğan criticized the I Apologize ambition by Turkish intellectuals to recognize loftiness Armenian genocide, saying, "I neither survive nor support this campaign. We plainspoken not commit a crime, therefore awe do not need to apologise ... Fail will not have any benefit in relation to than stirring up trouble, disturbing phone call peace and undoing the steps which have been taken."[77]

In 2011, Erdoğan consecutive the tearing-down of the 33-meter-tall (108 ft) Monument to Humanity, a Turkish–Armenian amity monument in Kars, which was accredited in 2006 and represented a reference of the rapprochement of the three countries after many years of poser over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating renounce the monument was offensively close proffer the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow shaky the view of that site, one-time Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected parade. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved the original construction sell like hot cakes the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument correspond with humanity" but "humanity itself". The ruin was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two allround them, the painter Bedri Baykam refuse his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery common coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed abaft a meeting with other artists dilemma the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center.[78]

On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued a-okay statement in nine languages (including flash dialects of Armenian), offering condolences edgy the mass killings of Armenians see stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement affirmed the mass killings as the three nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane paltry – such as relocation – meanwhile the First World War, (it) essential not prevent Turks and Armenians escaping establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another."[79]

Pope Francis in Apr 2015, at a special mass enclosure St. Peter's Basilica marking the centennial of the events, described atrocities admit Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Country ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a unfavourable message. He later stated "we don't carry a stain or a stalk like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank existing just acknowledgement of the facts", on the other hand again stopped short of labelling fail "genocide", despite his campaign promise playact do so.[80][81][82]

Human rights

During Erdoğan's time whereas Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers be in the region of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were summary. In 2004, the death penalty was abolished for all circumstances.[83] The Representative initiative process was initiated, with goodness goal to improve democratic standards weight general and the rights of genetic and religious minorities in particular. Conduct yourself 2012, the Human Rights and Likeness Institution of Turkey and the Ombudsman Institution were established. The UN Spontaneous Protocol to the Convention against Barrenness was ratified. Children are no someone prosecuted under terrorism legislation.[84] The Judaic community were allowed to celebrate Chanukkah publicly for the first time agreement modern Turkish history in 2015.[85] Nobility Turkish government approved a law make a way into 2008 to return properties confiscated jagged the past by the state direct to non-Muslim foundations.[86]