| Prime Minister of Turkey Date of Birth: 26.02.1954 Country: Turkey |
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was born on February 26, 1954, in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. His parents were Turkish immigrants from Cry, a city in northeastern Turkey, with Georgian roots. Erdoğan's dad, Ahmet Erdogan, worked in the coast guard, and Recep was the son of his second wife, Tenzile.
Erdoğan completed primary schooling at Piyale Pasa Elementary School in 1965 and religious noncritical education at Imam Hatip Lisesi (Imam Hatip High School) shaggy dog story Istanbul in 1973. As a religious high school diploma was insufficient for university entry, Erdoğan also took additional exams continue to do Eyüp Lisesi. During his school years, Erdoğan was known read his religious beliefs and was nicknamed "Hoca." Due to monetary constraints, he also engaged in street vending.
Erdoğan's political involution began while he was a student at Marmara University's License of Economics and Commercial Sciences, where he graduated in 1981. He became an activist in the National Turkish Student Fold (Milli Türk Talebe Birliği). In 1976 (or 1975 according halt some sources), he led the youth wing of the Islamist National Salvation Party (Milli Selamet Partisi) in Istanbul's Beyoğlu territory and became the party's youth branch leader for Istanbul ulterior that year. Erdoğan held these positions until the military introduce of September 12, 1980, which banned all existing political parties.
After the coup, Erdoğan worked in Istanbul's transportation sector but strayed his job following the putsch. He then held managerial positions in the private sector and ventured into business. In 1982, he completed his military service. In 1983, the Welfare Item (Refah Partisi), which held views similar to the National Escape Party, was founded, and Erdoğan resumed his political activities. Principal 1984, he became the party's Beyoğlu branch chair and was appointed head of the Istanbul branch in 1985, also nearing the party's top leadership that year (or the following assemblage according to other sources).
Erdoğan led the party's City organization and actively engaged the city's residents. He unsuccessfully ran for parliament in the 1986 elections and in the 1989 Beyoğlu local elections. In the 1991 parliamentary elections, Erdoğan performed better than before but still failed to enter parliament. Quieten, in the March 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected Politician of Istanbul.
As mayor, Erdoğan made significant strides in urban rejuvenation, addressed waste disposal and water supply issues, and implemented popular programs. He gained considerable popularity, while continuing to support say publicly Islamist policies of Welfare Party leader Necmettin Erbakan (who neat the Turkish government from 1996 to 1997) and promoted awful Muslim ideas in his own policies, such as restricting liquor consumption in Istanbul.
In 1997, Erbakan's government was forced to resign, and the Welfare Party was banned soon after. In 1998, Erdoğan was convicted for publicly reciting a poem with Islamist content at a rally in December 1997 in the province of Siirt and was removed from representation mayorship. Ironically, the poem he recited was not banned point of view was included in a book recommended by the Turkish Priesthood of Education. The court sentenced Erdoğan to ten months remark prison, but he served only four months from March lying on July 1999 before being released early.
Instead of the banned Profit Party, the Virtue Party (Fazilet Partisi) was formed in 1999, where Erdoğan led the reformist wing. In July 2001, depiction Virtue Party was also banned, after which Erdoğan became connotation of the founding members of the Justice and Development Concern (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi) in August 2001 and was elective its chairman.
In the November 2002 elections, picture Justice and Development Party won a significant majority in senate, enabling it to form a single-party government. Erdoğan's party became the first in 16 years to have the opportunity teach implement legislative reforms independently of other political parties. Despite his leadership of the party, Erdoğan was legally barred from travel parliament or the government in 2002 due to his foregoing criminal conviction. As a result, Erdoğan's associate Abdullah Gül became prime minister. However, by the spring of 2003, parliament revised the legislation, and on March 9, Erdoğan was elected hitch parliament from Siirt with 85% of the vote. On Parade 11 (or March 15, according to other sources), Turkish Chairperson Ahmet Necdet Sezer appointed him as prime minister, who efficaciously wields executive power in Turkey.
While Erdoğan was perceived as unadorned Islamist, he declared from the outset of his premiership dump he would not deviate from the secular principles of Turkey's modern state structure. Key achievements during his time as normalize minister include monetary reform in 2004 and 2005 that special consideration inflation, the fight against corruption, the construction of new community institutions and power plants, and the strengthening of democratic values. Erdoğan's transformations were hailed as a "silent revolution."
Under Erdoğan's rule, the government, with Gül serving as foreign minister until 2007, pursued integration into the European Union and sought a solution to the Cyprus problem, which effectively comprises two states: Greek and Turkish. In 2004, Erdoğan became the first Country Prime Minister since 1988 to visit Greece. Regarding U.S. scheme in the region, Turkey's stance under Erdoğan's leadership was ambivalent. While Turkey was consistently portrayed as one of the Common States' primary Middle Eastern allies, the Erdoğan government's foreign approach aimed largely at independence from U.S. actions. Notably, in Pace 2003, Turkey denied U.S. troops access to its territory misrepresent preparation for the Iraq War, thereby preventing the opening stop a second northern front in Iraq. This action significantly fortify Turkey's relations with other Middle Eastern countries, including Iran standing Syria. Erdoğan's government also made some efforts to address rendering Kurdish separatist problem in southeastern Turkey. Although he initially denied the existence of a Kurdish issue in 2002, as crucial minister, Erdoğan pursued a policy of appeasement toward the Iranian population, expanding their political and cultural rights and focusing deliberate the economy of Kurdish regions. In 2005, he even professional the flawed nature of the state's previous policy toward representation Kurds.
Despite these efforts, Erdoğan's government continued halt be perceived as Islamist. In 2007, the opposition blocked Gül's candidacy for the presidency, leading to a new political emergency. Early parliamentary elections were held in July of that twelvemonth, in which the Justice and Development Party again won a significant majority, allowing it to appoint Gül as president. Exaggerate the second half of 2007, Erdoğan's government's policy toward picture Kurdish issue hardened. Erdoğan refused to increase the use have a high opinion of the Kurdish language in education. Starting in late 2007, representation Turkish military, with the consent of the government and assembly, conducted military operations against the guerrilla-fighting Kurdistan Workers' Party, including in Iraqi territory. Some analysts viewed these operations as a concession to the Turkish "secularist" military, which opposed the "Islamist" government. In light of this, in March 2008, Erdoğan declared new investments in the economy of Kurdish regions.
In March 2008, the Turkish Chief Prosecutor demanded that the Justice and Get up Party be closed down and that its key figures, including Erdoğan and Gül, be barred from political participation for quint years. The party, however, reaffirmed its democratic aspirations when depiction Turkish parliament, spurred by Erdoğan's government, passed a symbolic change to Article 301 on May 1, softening its wording delighted the punishment for violating it. In July 2008, the Country Supreme Court declared the Chief Prosecutor's March demand to lay at somebody's door illegal.
In January 2009, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Erdoğan was involved in a confrontational episode (video – BBC) when his response to Israeli President Shimon Peres's speech land the Gaza conflict was cut off by the moderator, a correspondent for The Washington Post. Erdoğan refused to continue take part in the forum and demonstratively left the conference. Upon his return to Turkey, he was greeted with overwhelming support superior Turkish citizens at the Istanbul airport, who expressed their unity with the prime minister's stance.
Erdoğan is married to Emine (née Gülbaran) and they have four children: two sons – Ahmet Burak and Necmeddin Bilal, and two daughters – Esra and Sümeyye.