Erdogan, Recep Tayyip << ER doh ahn, RAY jehp TEYE yihp >> (1954-…), became president of Turkey in 2014. Before becoming president, Erdogan had served as Turkey’s prime minister since 2003. Erdogan is the former leader of the Justice and Development Party, called Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) in Turkish. Erdogan and other moderate Islamists established the party in 2001, and it won control of Turkey’s government in 2002. Islamists generally favor a greater role for the religion of Islam in government. The Turkish Republic has been secular (nonreligious) since its creation in 1923.
Erdogan was born in Rize, Turkey, on Feb. 26, 1954. He graduated from Marmara University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Erdogan is married and has two sons and two daughters.
In the 1980’s, Erdogan joined the Welfare Party, a conservative Islamist party. In 1985, he became the party’s provincial chairman for Istanbul and took an active role in the city’s politics. Erdogan was elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994, becoming the city’s first mayor with an Islamist background.
In 1998, after publicly reading a controversial Islamist poem, Erdogan was imprisoned for inciting religious hatred. He spent four months in prison and was barred from public office. Upon his release, he helped form the new Justice and Development Party and became its leader. Erdogan’s criminal conviction, however, prohibited him from running for office. In 2002, following his party’s victory in the general election, the Turkish legislature changed the Constitution, allowing Erdogan to again hold public office.
As prime minister, Erdogan softened his religious stance and showed support for the secular nature of Turkey’s government. Erdogan oversaw reforms in the Constitution, the judicial system, and the army and police forces. He also worked to improve relations with the rest of Europe while pursuing Turkish membership in the European Union. In 2014, Erdogan replaced fellow AKP member Abdullah Gül as president. Voters reelected Erdogan as president in 2018 and in 2023.
