Recep Erdogan became the first elected president of the country, who has been at the forefront of Turkish politics for more than a decade. It is about him that will be discussed in the article presented below.
Charismatic leader
Now it has become apparent that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is today one of the most charismatic politicians in the world. All talk of Turkey necessarily includes mention of this gentleman. Such a rapid growth of the personality cult in a state honoring the great leader of the past, Mustafa Ataturk, is not surprising. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose age has reached 62 years, leads Turkey forward economically and politically, nullifying the influence of the military. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the army has always played too much a role in the state affairs of this power.
Turkey has a history of military coups. The most recent is the "postmodernist" that occurred in 1997. He was called so because there was no direct participation of the army. For 18 years, the country's policy has remained relatively stable, especially between 2002 and the year the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power.
Beginning of the End
Some believe that changes in Erdogan have occurred recently. However, the fears associated with the politics of Islamism appeared long before the Taksim-Gezi protests. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a controversial figure. For many, especially in the more conservative Anatolia, the health care system has improved with it. In addition, religious Turks gained more representation and much-needed infrastructure improvements were made. Although the Turkish economy was already in a state of growth, the current state improved for the ruling party thanks to Erdogan. However, the situation may soon change, as the lira to the US dollar continues to decline.
The president has been criticized for his politicization of the media, especially after 2013. According to the opposition Republican Peopleās Party, in the 12 years of AKPās rule, more than 1,863 journalists have been fired for their anti-government views. The country's leadership is taking steps to redistribute ownership of private media, taking them under the control of the ruling party. Correspondents of some newspapers and news agencies are prohibited from attending government press conferences and asking questions. Several opposition journalists were arrested as part of the Ergekon trial and investigation into the Sledgehammer plan.
New cult of personality
Not a single figure has dominated the country's politics for so long since Ataturk - the father of modern Turkey. At present, an atmosphere is creating when citizens cannot upset their leader - Erdoganās critics and opponents have been tough lately. Everyone is arrested: from a 16-year-old teenager for insulting the president to Miss Turkey, who was in trouble for distributing a poem criticizing Erdogan. The growth of the power of politics correlates with the clampdown on freedom of speech. This applies to public statements about the president.
The sad consequence of the policy pursued by Recep Erdogan is that children are arrested for criticizing him on social networks. And recently, he said that a woman who rejects motherhood and homework, regardless of how successful her professional activities are, is imperfect and inferior. In his opinion, she must have at least three offspring. And no career should ever stop her from spending a lot of time with them. The Islamist concluded his speech with the words that a woman who rejects motherhood cannot be called a man. But what is known about politics, eager to get the majority necessary to amend the constitution, limiting its power?
Recep Erdogan: biography
Erdogan was born on February 26, 1954 in the Istanbul Kasympasha district. He spent part of his childhood in Riesa, a city on the Turkish Black Sea coast in the north-east of the country. Even before his birth, the family of the future president moved from Georgia. According to Recep Erdogan in 2003, the nationality of him and his family, who migrated from Batumi to Riesa, is Georgian. True, a year later he was already indignant at the fact that he was called a Georgian or, worse, an Armenian, claiming that he was a Turk.
The presidentās father worked at the coast guard in Riesa until the family decided to return to Istanbul. To make money for his family, Recep sold lemonade and sesame buns, called "simites" in Turkey. He attended the Piyale elementary school in Kasympasha in 1960 and the Imam Khatip Sunday religious school in Istanbul until 1973.
Football past
Between 1969 and 1982, Recep played on a local football team. When he was 16 years old, he was supposed to be transferred to the amateur football league. At this time, he also played for the Kasympasha Spor club. And Turkish media reported that FenerbahƧe, one of the country's best teams, wanted to sign a contract with him, but his father, they say, was against it.
The Kasympasha Spor stadium was named after him at the end of last year and Trabzonspor also plans to rename its football arena to Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The age of the politician did not prevent him from being prime minister to demonstrate his sports skills. He made a hat-trick during a friendly match with Turkish artists and singers in Istanbul in July 2015.
Way up
From a very early age he was involved in politics. The boy was a member of the National Association of Turkish Students in his school years and while studying at the University of Marmara. In 1978, Recep married Emine Gulbaran (born 1955). He has two daughters: Esra (1983) and Sumeeye (1985). In addition, the politician has two sons. These are Nejmettin Bilal (1980) and Ahmet Burak (1979).
Erdoganās political career began when he was elected head of the youth branch of the National Salvation Party (MSP), the 1970s Islamist party banned after the 1980 military coup. During the coup, the future president worked as an accountant and manager in the private sector. He graduated from the university with a degree in business administration in 1981.
Student politician
During his stay at the university, Erdogan Recep met Nejmettin Erbakan - the former first Islamist Prime Minister of Turkey. This acquaintance became decisive. Through him, he entered into Islamic politics. The late Erbakan became a mentor to a young student. Three years after the military coup, the Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) was created. And in 1984, Erdogan Recep became the chairman of its branch in the Beyoglu district. The following year, he led the party organization of Istanbul and became a member of the central executive council.
Islam Mayor
According to Akhmet Khan, a board member of the Edam Analytical Center, Erdogan represented āstreet Islam,ā the classic political Islamists of the Turkish national movement, Necmettin Erbakan. But real power came in 1994, when he was elected mayor of Istanbul. He became the first Islamist in this position. During his tenure as head of the city, even his critics said that Erdogan turned out to be a ācompetent, prudent leaderā and effectively solved environmental problems, as a result of which the city turned greener.
Arrest
Being an Islamist was then unsafe. And in December 1997, Erdogan Recep was sentenced to several months in prison for inciting religious hatred, when the mayor recited verses with the following lines in the eastern Turkish city of Siirt:
Our bayonets are minarets,
Our helmets are domes
Our barracks are mosques,
Our soldiers are believers ...
He read the work of the Ottoman Islamist poet Zia Hekalpa, which, according to the judges, was directed against secular-Kemalist principles during a demonstration against the decision of the Constitutional Court to close the Welfare Party. Themis noted that this organization was banned because of the threat to the Kemalist nature of Turkey, especially the separation of the church from the state. Erdogan, who was supposed to resign as mayor after being convicted, was serving a term in prison: from March to July 1999.
From Prison to Premieres, from Premieres to Presidents
In 2001, Erdogan Recep with his friends, including the former head of Turkey Abdullah Gul, founded the Justice and Development Party. In the elections in the fall of 2002, she received the largest number of votes (34.3%). But Erdogan could not take part in the elections because of his criminal record. By March 2003, AKP used its success to amend the Constitution. And in the hometown of his wife, Siirt, the politician took part in the by-elections, which he subsequently won. In the same month, he replaced Abdullah Gul as Prime Minister, remaining in this role until August 2014. Soon after, Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first elected president of Turkey.