Turkey's Erdogan still fighting for power after 20 years

From humble beginnings, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has grown into a governmental giant, starring Turkey for 20 years and reshaping his state much than immoderate person since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the revered begetter of the modern republic.

But rampant ostentation and a cost-of-living situation person formed uncertainty connected his chances of extending his regularisation into a 3rd decade. Falling canvass numbers and a beardown absorption situation could forestall him winning elections successful May.

For a pugnacious person who built a arrogant grounds of coagulated maturation and a roar successful improvement and modernisation, Turkey's economical diminution presents a superior risk.

First arsenic premier curate from 2003 and past arsenic straight elected president since 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has flexed Turkey's muscles arsenic a determination power, championed Islamist causes and been speedy to outmanoeuvre home opposition.

Although helium is the caput of a Nato country, helium has positioned himself arsenic a broker successful Russia's warfare successful Ukraine and kept Sweden and Finland waiting successful their bids to articulation the Western antiaircraft alliance. His muscular diplomacy has riled allies successful Europe and beyond.

While galore Turks are looking for a aboriginal without him, President Erdogan is simply a proven predetermination victor and volition not springiness up powerfulness lightly. He has already sought to forestall a starring rival, the politician of Istanbul, from running.

He, much than anyone, knows the hazard of decision astatine the hands of a fashionable Istanbul mayor, due to the fact that that was the relation successful which helium built his powerbase successful the 1990s.

Born successful February 1954, Recep Tayyip Erdogan grew up the lad of a coastguard, connected Turkey's Black Sea coast. When helium was 13, his begetter decided to determination to Istanbul, hoping to springiness his 5 children a amended upbringing.

The young Erdogan sold lemonade and sesame buns to gain other cash. He attended an Islamic schoolhouse earlier obtaining a grade successful absorption from Istanbul's Marmara University - and playing nonrecreational football.

In the 1970s and 80s, helium was progressive successful Islamist circles, joining Necmettin Erbakan's pro-Islamic Welfare Party. As the enactment grew successful popularity successful the 1990s, Mr Erdogan was elected arsenic its campaigner for politician of Istanbul successful 1994 and ran the metropolis for the adjacent 4 years.

But his word came to an extremity erstwhile helium was convicted of inciting radical hatred for publically speechmaking a nationalist poem that included the lines: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers."

After serving 4 months successful jail, helium returned to politics. But his enactment had been banned for violating the strict secular principles of the modern Turkish state.

In August 2001, helium founded an new, Islamist-rooted enactment with state Abdullah Gul. In 2002, the AKP won a bulk successful parliamentary elections and the pursuing year, Mr Erdogan was appointed premier minister. He remains president of the AKP oregon Justice and Development Party to this day.

From 2003, helium spent 3 presumption arsenic premier minister, presiding implicit a play of dependable economical maturation and winning praise internationally arsenic a reformer. The country's mediate people expanded and millions were taken retired of poverty, arsenic Mr Erdogan prioritised elephantine infrastructure projects to modernise Turkey.

But critics warned helium was becoming progressively autocratic.

By 2013, protesters took to the streets, partially due to the fact that of his government's plans to alteration a much-loved parkland successful the centre of Istanbul, but besides successful a situation to much authoritarian rule. The premier curate condemned the protesters arsenic "capulcu" (riff-raff), and neighbourhoods would clang pots and pans astatine 9 o'clock each nighttime successful a tone of defiance. Allegations of corruption ensnared the sons of 3 furniture allies.

The Gezi Park protests marked a turning constituent successful his rule. To his detractors, helium was acting much similar a sultan from the Ottoman Empire than a democrat.

Mr Erdogan besides fell retired with a US-based Islamic student called Fethullah Gulen, whose societal and taste question had helped him to triumph successful 3 consecutive elections and had been progressive successful removing the subject from politics. It was a feud that would person melodramatic repercussions for Turkish society.

After a decennary of his rule, Mr Erdogan's enactment besides moved to assistance a prohibition connected women wearing headscarves successful nationalist services that was introduced aft a subject coup successful 1980. The prohibition was yet lifted for women successful the police, subject and judiciary.

Critics complained helium had chipped distant astatine the pillars of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's secular republic. While spiritual himself, Mr Erdogan ever denied wanting to enforce Islamic values, insisting helium supported the rights of Turks to explicit their religion much openly.

However, helium has repeatedly supported criminalising adultery. And arsenic a begetter of four, helium has said "no Muslim family" should see commencement power oregon household planning. "We volition multiply our descendants," helium said successful May 2016.

He has extolled motherhood, condemned feminists and said men and women cannot beryllium treated equally.

Mr Erdogan has agelong championed Islamist causes - groups ideologically adjacent to Egypt's repressed Muslim Brotherhood. He has been known to springiness the latter's four-finger salute - the "rabaa".

In July 2020, helium oversaw the conversion of Istanbul's historical Hagia Sophia into a mosque, angering galore Christians. It was built 1,500 years agone arsenic a cathedral, and made a mosque by the Ottoman Turks, but Ataturk had turned it into a depository - a awesome of the caller secular state.

Barred from moving again for premier minister, successful 2014 helium stood for the mostly ceremonial relation of president successful unprecedented nonstop elections. He had large plans for reforming the post, creating a caller constitution that would payment each Turks and spot their state among the world's apical 10 economies.

But aboriginal successful his presidency, helium faced 2 jolts to his power. His enactment mislaid its bulk successful parliament for respective months successful a 2015 vote, and past months later, successful 2016, Turkey witnessed its archetypal convulsive attempted coup for decades.

Rebel soldiers came adjacent to capturing the president, holidaying astatine a coastal resort, but helium was airlifted to safety. In the aboriginal hours of 16 July, helium emerged triumphant astatine Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, to the cheers of supporters. Almost 300 civilians were killed arsenic they blocked the beforehand of the coup plotters.

The president appeared connected nationalist TV and rallied supporters successful Istanbul, declaring helium was the "chief commander". But the strain was wide erstwhile helium sobbed openly portion giving a code astatine the ceremonial of a adjacent friend, changeable with his lad by mutinous soldiers.

The crippled was blamed connected the Gulen question and led to immoderate 150,000 nationalist servants being sacked and much than 50,000 radical being detained, including soldiers, journalists, lawyers, constabulary officers, academics and Kurdish politicians.

This crackdown connected critics caused alarm abroad, contributing to frosty relations with the EU: Turkey's bid to articulation the national has not progressed for years. Arguments implicit an influx of migrants into Greece exacerbated the ill-feeling.

But from his gleaming, 1,000-room Ak Saray palace overlooking Ankara, President Erdogan's presumption appeared much unafraid than ever.

He narrowly won a 2017 referendum granting him sweeping statesmanlike powers, including the close to enforce a authorities of exigency and name apical nationalist officials arsenic good arsenic intervene successful the ineligible system.

A twelvemonth later, helium secured outright triumph successful the archetypal circular of a statesmanlike poll.

His halfway ballot lies successful tiny Anatolian towns and rural, blimpish areas. In 2019, his enactment mislaid successful the 3 biggest cities - Istanbul; the capital, Ankara; and Izmir.

Losing the Istanbul mayorship narrowly to Ekrem Imamoglu of the main absorption Republican People's Party (CHP) was a bitter stroke to Mr Erdogan, who was the city's politician successful the 1990s. He ne'er accepted the result.

Mr Imamoglu was up of the president successful the sentiment polls earlier helium was banned from moving successful the May elections. The president and his allies person been accused of utilizing the courts to disqualify the fashionable politician from the vote.

Turkey's 3rd biggest party, the pro-Kurdish HDP, is besides facing the menace of a prohibition from the parliamentary ballot due to the fact that of alleged links to Kurdish militants.

Like erstwhile Turkish leaders, President Erdogan has cracked down hard connected the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Although Turkey has taken successful much than 3 cardinal refugees fleeing the Syrian civilian war, Ankara has besides launched operations against Kurdish militias crossed the borders, alienating Kurds successful Turkey.

And it is Kurds successful Sweden whom Mr Erdogan is blaming for a hold-up successful Stockholm's bid to articulation Nato. Both Sweden and Finland person sought to articulation the confederation successful effect to Russia's warfare successful Ukraine, but the Turkish person says dozens of Kurds should beryllium extradited earlier helium volition agree.

Mr Erdogan has agelong held adjacent ties with Russia's Vladimir Putin and has sought a pivotal relation arsenic a mediator successful the conflict. He helped to broker a woody opening a harmless corridor for atom exports done the Black Sea, and prevented its illness erstwhile Russia moved to extremity its enactment for the agreement.