Turkish President Erdogan Recep Tayyip: biography, political activity

Recep Erdogan became the first elected president of the country, which has been at the forefront of Turkish politics for over a decade. It is about him that will be discussed in the article presented below.

A charismatic leader

Now the fact that Recep Tayyip Erdogan is today one of the most charismatic politicians of the world has become evident. All talk about Turkey necessarily includes mentioning this to the gentleman. Such a rapid growth of the personality cult in the 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, negating the influence of the military. It is no exaggeration to say that the army has always played too much role in the affairs of this state.

Turkey has a history of military coups. The latest is "postmodern", which occurred in 1997. He was called so because there was no direct involvement of the army. For 18 years, the country's policy remained relatively stable, especially between 2002 and the year the AKP came to power.

Beginning of the End

Some believe that the changes in Erdogan have occurred recently. However, the fears connected with the Islamism of the politician were manifested long before the protests in Taksim-Gezi. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a controversial figure. For many, especially in a more conservative Anatolia, with it, the health system improved. In addition, religious Turks received more representation and a much needed infrastructure improvement was carried out. Although the Turkish economy was already in a state of growth, but for the ruling party, the current situation improved thanks to Erdogan. However, the situation may soon change, as the lira exchange rate against the US dollar continues to decline.

The president is criticized for his politicization of the media, especially after 2013. According to the opposition Republican People's Party, over 1263 years of AKP rule over 1863 journalists were dismissed 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 in the course of the trial of Ergekon and the investigation of the plot on the Sledgehammer plan.

A new cult of personality

Not a single figure has dominated the country's politics for so long since the time of Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey. At present, a situation is created when citizens can not upset their leader - Erdogan's critics and opponents have recently been harsh. Everyone is arrested: from a 16-year-old teenager for insulting the president to Miss Turkey, who was in trouble for distributing the poem with Erdogan's criticism. The growth of the power of politics correlates with the clamp of freedom of speech. This also applies to public statements about the president.

The sad consequence of the policy pursued by Recep Erdogan is that children are arrested for his criticism in social networks. And recently he said that a woman who rejects motherhood and homework, no matter how successful her professional activity is, is imperfect and incomplete. In his opinion, she must have at least three offspring. And no career should ever prevent her from spending much time with them. The Islamist ended his speech with the words that a woman who rejects motherhood can not be called a person. But what is known about a policy that is eager to get the majority needed to change the constitution that limits its power?

Recep Erdogan: Biography

Erdogan was born on February 26, 1954 in the Istanbul region of Kasympash. He spent part of his childhood in Rize, a city on the Turkish coast of the Black Sea in the north-east of the country. Even before his birth, the family of the future president moved from Georgia. As Erdogan said in 2003, the nationality of him and his family, who migrated from Batumi to Rize, is Georgian. True, a year later he was indignant that he was called a Georgian or, worse, an Armenian, claiming he was a Turk.

The president's father worked at the Coast Guard in Rize until the family decided to return to Istanbul. To earn money for his relatives, Rejep sold lemonade and sesame buns, called "simites" in Turkey. He attended the elementary school of the Kassympas district "Piyale" in 1960 and the religious Sunday school "Imam Khatip" in Istanbul until 1973.

Football Background

Between 1969 and 1982, Rejep played in the 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 Dispute. And the Turkish media reported that Fenerbahce, one of the best teams in the country, wanted to sign a contract with him, but his father was said to be against it.

Stadium "Kasympasha Spore" at the end of last year was named in his honor and "Trabzonspor" also plans to rename its football arena for "Recep Tayyip Erdogan." Age of the politician did not prevent him when he was 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 an early age, he was involved in politics. The boy was a member of the National Association of Turkish Students during his school years and during his studies at the University of Marmara. In 1978, Rejep married Emine Gulbaran (born in 1955). He has two daughters: Esra (1983) and Symeia (1985). In addition, the politician has two sons. This is 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), an Islamist party of the 1970s, 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 Recephep met Necmettin Erbakan, the former first Islamist prime minister of Turkey. This acquaintance became decisive. Through it, he entered into Islamist politics. The late Erbakan became the tutor of a young student. Three years after the military coup, the Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) was established. And in 1984, Erdogan Recephep became chairman of her branch in the Beyoglu district. The following year, he headed the party organization of Istanbul and became a member of the central executive council.

The Mayor-Islamist

According to Ahmet Khan, a member of the board of the analytical center Edam, Erdogan represented "street Islam" - the classical political Islamists of the Turkish national movement Necmettin Erbakan. But the 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 "competent, prudent leader" and effectively dealt with environmental problems, which resulted in the city becoming greener.

Arrest

Then it was not safe to be an Islamist. And in December 1997, Erdogan Rejep was sentenced to several months of imprisonment for inciting religious hatred when the Mayor of the eastern Turkish city of Siirt proclaimed verses with such lines:

Our bayonets are minarets,

Our helmets are domes,

Our barracks are mosques,

Our soldiers are believers ...

He read the work of the Ottoman poet-Islamist Ziya Gekalpa, 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 church and state. Erdogan, who was to resign as mayor after the conviction, served time in prison: from March to July 1999.

From prison to premiere, from premieres to presidents

In 2001, Erdogan Recepp and his friends, including the former head of Turkey Abdullah Gul, founded the Justice and Development Party. In the elections in the autumn of 2002 she received the largest number of votes (34.3%). But Erdogan could not take part in the elections because of his conviction. By March 2003, AKP used its success to amend the Constitution. And in the city of his wife, Siirt, the politician took part in the by-elections, which subsequently won. In the same month he replaced Abdullah Gul as prime minister, remaining in this role until August 2014. Soon after that, Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first elected president of Turkey.