Recep Tayyip 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 below.
Charismatic leader
Now it has become obvious that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the most charismatic politicians in the world today. All talk about Turkey necessarily includes a mention of this gentleman. Such a rapid growth of the cult of personality in a state that honors the great leader of the past, Mustafa Atatürk, is not surprising. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aged 62, is leading Turkey forward economically and politically, negating the influence of the military. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the army has always played too big a role in the state affairs of this power.
Turkey has a history of military coups. The most recent one is “postmodern”, which took place in 1997. It was named so because there was no direct participation of the army. For 18 years, the country's politics remained relatively stable, especially between 2002 and the year the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power.
Beginning of the end
Some believe the change in Erdogan is recent. However, the fears associated with the politician's Islamism manifested themselves long before the protests in Taksim-Gezi. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a controversial figure. For many, especially in more conservative Anatolia, the he althcare system has improved under him. In addition, religious Turks were given greater representation and much-needed infrastructure improvements were made. Although the Turkish economy was already in a state of growth, but for the ruling party, the current state has improved thanks to Erdogan. However, the situation may soon change as the lira continues to decline against the US dollar.
The president has been criticized for his politicization of the media, especially since 2013. According to the opposition Republican People's Party, more than 1,863 journalists have been fired during the 12 years of the AKP's rule 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 have been arrested as part of the Ergekon trial and investigation into the Sledgehammer plot.
The new cult of personality
No other figure has dominated the country's politics for so long since the time of Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey. Currentlya situation is created when citizens cannot upset their leader - critics and opponents of Erdogan have been treated harshly lately. Everyone is being arrested, from a 16-year-old teenager for insulting the president to Miss Turkey, who is in trouble for distributing a poem critical of Erdogan. The growth of political power correlates with the suppression of freedom of speech. This extends to public comments about the president.
A sad consequence of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's policies is that children are being arrested for criticizing him on social media. And recently he stated that a woman who rejects motherhood and housework, no matter how successful her professional activity, is imperfect and defective. In his opinion, she must have at least three offspring. And no career should ever prevent her from spending a lot of time with them. The Islamist ended his speech with the words that a woman who rejects motherhood cannot be called a man. But what is known about a politician who wants to win the majority needed to change the constitution that limits his powers?
Recep Erdogan: biography
Erdogan was born on February 26, 1954 in Istanbul's Kasimpasa district. He spent part of his childhood in Rize, a city on the Turkish Black Sea coast in the country's northeast. Even before his birth, the family of the future president moved from Georgia. As Recep Erdogan stated in 2003, the nationality of him and his family, who migrated from Batumi to Rize, isGeorgian. True, a year later he was already indignant at being called a Georgian or, worse, an Armenian, claiming that he was a Turk.
The President's father worked for the Coast Guard in Rize until the family decided to return to Istanbul. To earn money for his family, Recep sold lemonade and sesame buns, called "simits" in Turkey. He attended Piyale Kasimpasa District Primary School in 1960 and Imam Hatip Religious Sunday School in Istanbul until 1973.
Football past
Between 1969 and 1982, Recep played on the local football team. When he was 16 years old, he was supposed to be transferred to the amateur football league. During this time, he also played for the Kasimpasa Spor club. And Turkish media reported that Fenerbahce, one of the best teams in the country, wanted to sign him, but his father was said to be against it.
The Kasimpasa Spor stadium was named after him late last year and Trabzonspor also plans to rename their football arena to Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The age of the politician did not prevent him from demonstrating his sports skills when he was prime minister. He scored a hat-trick during a friendly match with Turkish artists and singers in Istanbul in July 2015
The way up
He was involved in politics from a very young age. The boy, both during his school years and while studying at the University of Marmara, was a member of the National Association of Turkish Students. In 1978Rejep married Emina Gulbaran (b. 1955). He has two daughters: Esra (1983) and Sumeye (1985). In addition, the politician has two sons. These are Necmettin Bilal (1980) and Ahmet Burak (1979).
Erdogan's political career began when he was elected head of the youth branch of the National Salvation Party (MSP), a 1970s Islamist party banned after a 1980 military coup. During the coup, the future president worked as an accountant and manager in the private sector. Graduated from the university with a degree in business administration in 1981.
Student politician
During his time at the university, Erdogan Recep met Necmettin Erbakan, the former first Islamist prime minister of Turkey. This acquaintance was decisive. Through him, he entered Islamist politics. The late Erbakan became the young student's mentor. 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 region. The following year, he headed the party organization of Istanbul and became a member of the central executive council.
Islamist mayor
According to Ahmet Khan, board member of the Edam think tank, Erdogan represented "street Islam" - the classic political Islamists of Necmettin Erbakan's Turkish National Movement. But the real power came in 1994 when he was elected Mayor of Istanbul. He became the first Islamist on thispositions. During his tenure as mayor, even his critics said that Erdogan was a "competent, prudent leader" and effectively addressed environmental problems, resulting in a greener city.
Arrest
It wasn't safe to be an Islamist back then. And in December 1997, Erdogan Recep was sentenced to several months in prison for inciting religious hatred when, in the eastern Turkish city of Siirt, the mayor recited verses with these lines:
Our bayonets are minarets, Our helmets are domes, Our barracks are mosques, Our soldiers are believers…
He read a piece by Ottoman Islamist poet Zia Gekalp, which the judges said 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 church and state. Erdogan, who was due to resign as mayor after being convicted, served time in prison: March to July 1999.
From prison to prime ministers, from prime ministers to presidents
In 2001, Erdogan Recep with 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, the AKP was using itssuccess for amending the Constitution. And in the hometown of his wife, Siirt, the politician took part in the by-elections, which he later won. In the same month, he replaced Abdullah Gul as prime minister, remaining in that role until August 2014. Soon after, Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Turkey's first elected president.
