CONCEPT – ERDOGAN'S STORY

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 CONCEPT – ERDOGAN'S STORY

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• QUICK FACTS

1. Born on Feb. 26, 1954, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his political career as the mayor of Istanbul, Turkey, from 1994 to 1998. Prior to that, he was a member of the Turkish Welfare Party and the founder and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
2. In 1999, Erdoğan was sentenced to 10 months in jail but was freed after serving four. He was convicted for inciting religious hatred after reading an Islamic poem, which included the lines: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayo nets and the faithful our soldiers ..."
3. He spent 11 years as Turkey's prime minister, beginning in 2003, a year after the formation of the AKP.
4. In 2014, he was Turkey's first directly elected president. Less than two years later, the military attempted a coup to overthrow Erdoğan in July 2016.
5. In April 2017, a referendum supported by Erdoğan that increased the powers of the president won with a slight majority.
6. Erdoğan has denied wanting to impose Islamic values, but critics point to his failed bid to criminalize adultery and attempts to introduce "alcohol-free zones," as evidence otherwise.
7. He attended an Islamic school before earning a management degree from Istanbul's Marmara University.
8. He played semi-professional football (soccer) before his political career.
9. He and his wife, Emine Erdoğan, have been married since 1978 and have two sons and two daughters.
10. Erdoğan was credited with improving Istanbul during his time as mayor but has since been criticized as an autocratic leader who silences opposition and dissent. 

• POLITICAL CAREER TIMELINE

1. 1984 - Elected as a district head of the Welfare Party.
2. 1985 - Elected as the Istanbul Provincial Head of the Welfare Party and becomes a member of the central executive board of the party.
3. 1994-1998 - Mayor of Istanbul.
4. 1998 - The Welfare Party is banned. Erdogan serves four months in prison for inciting religious hatred after reciting a controversial poem.
5. August 2001 - Co-founds the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
6. 2002-2003 - Erdogan's AKP wins the majority of seats in parliamentary elections, and he is appointed prime minister.
7. 2003-2014 - Serves as prime minister.
8. June 2011 - AKP wins by a wide margin in the parliamentary elections, securing a third term for Erdogan.
9. June 2013 - Anti-government demonstrations target Erdogan's policies, including his plan to turn a park into a mall, and call for political reforms. Thousands are reported injured in the clashes.
10. December 2013 - Corruption probe begins which investigates more than 50 suspects, including members of Erdogan's inner circle. The following month, the government dismisses 350 police officers amid the 11investigation. Ten months later, the prosecutor drops the inquiry.
11. March 2014 - After Erdogan threatens to "eradicate" Twitter at a campaign rally, Turkey bans the social media site, and a two-week countrywide blackout ensues.
12. August 10, 2014 - Erdogan is elected president during the first-ever direct elections.
13. November 2014 - At a summit hosted by a women's group in Istanbul, Erdogan says that women and men are not equal "because their nature is different." It's not the first time the Turkish leader has made controversial comments about women: previously, he told Turkish university students that they shouldn't be "picky" when choosing a husband and has called on all Turkish women to have three children. 
14. June 7, 2015 - In Turkey's parliamentary elections, AKP wins 41% of the vote.
15. July 15-16, 2016 - During an attempted coup by a faction of the military, at least 161 people are killed and 1,140 wounded. Erdogan addresses the nation via FaceTime and urges people to take to the streets to stand up to the military faction behind the uprising. He blames the coup attempt on cleric and rival Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.
16. April 16, 2017 - A vote is held on a constitutional amendment expanding Erdogan's presidential powers. Turkish state media report that about 51% of people voted yes on the referendum, which abolishes the country's parliamentary system and would potentially allow for Erdogan to remain in office until 2029. International election monitors question whether the election was free and fair, citing last-minute rule changes, the muzzling of opposition voices and the dominance of the "yes" campaign in the media. Opposition leaders in the Republican People's Party say that they plan to challenge the election results in court.
17. May 16, 2017 - Erdogan meets US President Donald Trump at the White House. During a joint news conference, Erdogan praises Trump's electoral victory and vows to help the United States fight terrorism. After the two men speak, demonstrators protest outside the residence of the Turkish ambassador. Nine people are injured when Turkish security guards rush into a line of protestors and kick people on the ground. Law enforcement sources tell CNN that some of the men involved in the fight were Erdogan's bodyguards.
18. October 12, 2017 - Erdogan accuses the United States of sacrificing its relationship with Turkey in a speech made days after the arrest of a US consular staff member and the announcement that he refuses to recognize the authority of US ambassador, John Bass. Erdogan blames Bass and other officials left over from the Obama administration for sabotaging relations between the two countries.
19. December 2017 - In response to Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Erdogan declares the move to be null and void and announces Turkey's intention to open a Turkish embassy in Jerusalem.
20. June 24, 2018 - Is re-elected president.
21. November 2, 2018 - The order to kill Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi came "from the highest levels of Saudi government," Erdogan writes in an opinion piece in the Washington Post. The friendship between Turkey and Saudi Arabia "doesn't mean we will turn a blind eye to the premeditated murder that unfolded in front of our very eyes," he writes.
22. January 8, 2019 - After backing the decision that the United States will begin pulling troops from Syria, Erdogan claims US National Security Adviser John Bolton made "a serious mistake" telling reporters that the United States would only pull out of Syria if Turkey pledged not to attack its Kurdish allies there, "Bolton's remarks in Israel are not acceptable. It is not possible for me to swallow this," Erdogan says during a speech in parliament. "Bolton made a serious mistake. If he thinks that way, he is in a big mistake. We will not compromise."
23. January 14, 2019 - Trump and Erdogan discuss "ongoing cooperation in Syria as US forces begin to withdraw" during a phone call just one day after Trump threatened to "devastate Turkey economically" if the NATO-allied country attacks Kurds in the region.

• Justice and Development Party, Turkish Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP), also called AK Party or Turkish AK Parti, political party that came to power in Turkey in the general elections of 2002. In spite of the party’s nonconfessional mandate, the AKP draws significant support from nonsecular Turks and has faced objections from some segments of Turkish society that it harbours an Islamist agenda that could undermine Turkey’s secular foundation.

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