He narrowly received a referendum in 2017 that gave him broad presidential powers, together with the appropriate to declare a state of emergency, appoint prime officers and intervene within the authorized system.
A yr later, he secured a transparent victory within the first spherical of a presidential election.
Its primary voters are small Anatolian cities and rural, conservative areas. In 2019, his get together misplaced within the three largest cities – Istanbul; the capital Ankara; and Izmir.
The slim lack of Istanbul's mayoralty to Ekrem Imamoglu of the primary opposition get together, the Republican Folks's Get together (CHP), was a bitter blow to Mr Erdogan, who was town's mayor within the 1990s. He by no means accepted the outcome.
Mr. Imamoglu was forward of the president in opinion polls earlier than he was barred from operating in Might elections. The president and his allies have been accused of utilizing the courts to exclude the favored mayor from the vote.
Turkey's third-largest get together, the pro-Kurdish HDP, additionally feared being excluded from the parliamentary election due to alleged hyperlinks to Kurdish militants, however determined to run underneath a unique banner.
Like earlier Turkish leaders, President Erdogan has cracked down on the outlawed Kurdistan Employees' Get together (PKK).
Though Turkey has welcomed greater than three.5 million refugees fleeing the Syrian civil warfare, Ankara has additionally launched operations in opposition to Kurdish militias throughout its borders, angering Kurds in Turkey.
Mr. Erdogan has lengthy had shut ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and is searching for a key position as a mediator within the battle in Ukraine.
Regardless of being the chief of a NATO state, he bought a Russian missile protection system and selected Russia to construct Turkey's first nuclear reactor.
Forward of the 2023 election, he sought to bolster his credibility with nationalist and conservative voters by accusing the West of plotting in opposition to him.
“My nation will thwart this conspiracy,” he claimed, describing it as a turning level of types.
He rounded out his 2023 presidential marketing campaign with a go to to the mausoleum of Adnan Menderes, Turkey's first democratically elected prime minister, who was executed after a navy coup in 1961.
His message: “The period of coups and juntas is over.”