Politician
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, born on February 26, 1954, is a Turkish politician who has served as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. Prior to his presidency, he held the position of prime minister from 2003 to 2014 and served as the mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. Erdoğan was a co-founder of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001. Born in Güneysu, Rize, Erdoğan relocated to Istanbul with his family at the age of 13. He studied business administration at the Aksaray Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences and subsequently worked in the private sector as a consultant and senior manager. During this period, Erdoğan became involved in parties led by veteran Islamist politician Necmettin Erbakan, holding various positions within these parties. In 1994, Erdoğan was elected as the mayor of Istanbul after the local elections. During his tenure, he implemented reforms that modernized the city's infrastructure and economy. However, in 1998, he was convicted of inciting religious hatred and faced a political ban after reciting a controversial poem. After his release from prison in 1999, Erdoğan distanced himself from openly Islamist politics and formed the AKP, which aimed to follow the model of European Christian Democratic parties. Erdoğan led the AKP to a significant victory in the 2002 parliamentary elections, just a year after its establishment. After his political ban was lifted, he became prime minister by winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003. He went on to lead the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011. During his tenure as prime minister, Turkey initiated EU membership negotiations and witnessed economic recovery, along with substantial investments in infrastructure. Erdoğan faced criticism for his close association with the Gülen movement and allegations of purges against military officers through high-profile trials. In late 2012, his government initiated peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), leading to the resolution of the Kurdish-Turkish conflict three years later. In 2014, Erdoğan became the first directly elected president of Turkey. His presidency has been marked by concerns over democratic backsliding, an authoritarian style of governance, and allegations of human rights abuses and curbing of freedom of speech. He faced criticism for his handling of various issues, including protests, a failed coup attempt in 2016, economic policies, and the ongoing conflict in Syria. In the 2019 local elections, his party lost power in major cities to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years. Erdoğan supported a constitutional referendum in 2017 that introduced a presidential system, granting expanded executive powers and term limits. This system came into effect after the 2018 general election when Erdoğan became an executive president. However, his party lost the majority in parliament, and they are currently in a coalition with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Erdoğan's policies have faced criticism, particularly regarding the independence of the Central Bank and unorthodox monetary measures that led to high inflation rates and the devaluation of the Turkish lira. Since 2020, Erdoğan has been leading Turkey's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination efforts. In foreign policy, Turkey has played a significant role in the Syrian civil war, becoming the largest host country for refugees and engaging in military operations against various factions. Erdoğan responded to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine by taking measures such as closing the Bosphorus to Russian naval reinforcements, brokering deals between Russia and Ukraine, and facilitating a prisoner exchange.
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