Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born February 26, 1954) was a Turkish politician. He was serving Prime Minister of Turkey since March 14, 2003. He is also a leader Adalet ve Kalkınma Partition (AKP, or Justice and Development Party). In 2010, Erdogan was elected as the second most influential Muslims in the world.


Erdogan was elected as mayor of Istanbul in the local elections on March 27, 1994. He was imprisoned on December 12, 1997 because his poetry is problematic. After four months in prison, Erdogan founded the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on August 14, 2001. From the first year, the AK Party became the largest political movement in the Turkish public supported. In the 2002 election, the AKP won two-thirds of the seats in parliament, forming a single party government after 11 years.


Childhood to adolescence

Erdoğan was born in Istanbul, but grew up in Rize Black Sea coast and returned to Istanbul at the age of 13 years in a middle class family. His father was a sailor who served as a lifeguard in the Navy and came from Rize.


He studied at religious schools, the School of Imam hatip and went to the University of Marmara to study economics and business. Erdoğan became semi-professional soccer player at the age of 16 years, and worked in Istanbul city transportation company.


He plunged into politics with the National Salvation Party (Milli Selamet Partition) the Islamists, led by Necmettin Erbakan and has now been disbanded. After the military coup on 12 September 1980, he left football and worked in the private sector, and military duty in 1982 as an officer with special duties.


Political Career

After the 1980 coup, dissolved all political parties, but the former members of the National Salvation Party and founded the Welfare Party (Refah Partition) after democracy was restored in 1983. In 1985, Erdoğan became chairman of the Welfare Party in Istanbul province and participated in municipal elections for the cosmopolitan center of Beyoglu in Istanbul and seagai candidate for the Turkish Grand National Assembly several times in the late 1980s.


In 1991, the Welfare Party exceed the 10% threshold needed to gain seats for the first time the Supreme National Council, and Erdoğan was elected as a member of parliament from the province of Istanbul, although the chair was later revoked by the Central Election Commission because of the electoral system prevailing at the time. However, in the local elections on March 27, 1994, the Welfare Party became the largest party in Turkey for the first time, and Erdoğan became the mayor of Istanbul Kingdom and President of the Council of Metropolitan Istanbul Kingdom.


As mayor of Istanbul, he became famous because he was an effective administrator and populist, build infrastructure and transport links Istanbul and at the same time beautify the city. In the process he became Turkey's most popular politician.


The prominence of unforgettable achievements is the successful citizen water supply for city residents, the demolition of buildings, reduce levels of pollution by planting thousands of trees on city streets, to combat illegal prostitution by providing a more respectable job for a young woman, and prohibits presenting liquor in a place that is under the control of the Mayor of Istanbul.


When declaring the Development and Justice Party (AKP: Adalet ve Kalkinma Partition) wing of Islam in August 2001, he was able to bring the party like a light that will illuminate the darkness. His party's victory in the elections 3 November 2002 with 34.1 percent of the vote is not automatically raise the image of him as prime minister. AKP deputy chairman Abdullah Gul, who was appointed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. But, after all the cases that happened to be completed and approved by parliament, he was later replaced as Prime Minister Abdullah Gul of Turkey.


Foreign policy

Although Turkey is one of several Middle Eastern countries that established diplomatic relations with Israel, Erdogan stated that he would fight if Israel attacked Lebanon and Gaza.