Recep Tayyip Erdogan is currently serving as the President of Turkey, a position he has held since 2014. His name is often associated with a figure who changed the fate of Turkey because, in his tenure, Turkey witnessed substantial growth, infrastructure development, economic reforms, and transitioned towards a more unified governance.
Before being elected President in 2014, Erdogan also served as Prime Minister from 2003 to 2014 and the Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He is also a co-founder of the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP), formed in 2001. He has given a lot to his nation and acquired a good wealth, about which we will be discussing here.
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Early Life
Erdogan was born on 26th February 1954 in the Kasımpaşa district of Istanbul, but his family has roots in Rize Province on the Black Sea coast, and he spent the initial years of his early childhood in Rize. His father, Ahmet Erdogan, was a guard officer, and his mother, Tenzile Erdogan, was a homemaker. In the 1960s, the entire family moved permanently to Istanbul.
His family was a working class and conservative one, and he grew up with his siblings in a modest condition in Kasımpaşa, which shaped his personality greatly. He completed his early education in the 1960s from Piyale Primary School in Istanbul and later on went to the İmam Hatip School, a religious vocational institution during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He received both his Islamic and academic education from the institute.
Around the same time, he also sold lemonade and simit on the streets to support his family. After completing his education from İmam Hatip School, he went to Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences and got his degree in Business and Administration in 1981.
Evolution of Career
Erdogan started his career in politics with politics by becoming a young activist in Islamist political circles in the 1970s and joined the youth wing of Milli Selamet Partisi (MSP). During the 1970s, he took up local leadership roles in Beyoğlu district and in the 1980 Turkish Military Coup. Post the dissolution of the political parties, he stepped back for a period but made a comeback. He joined Refah Partisi, and by 1985, he became the provincial chairman of Istanbul.
In 1994, his political career took a turn, and he became the Mayor of Istanbul, and during his tenure from 1994 to 1998, he attracted national fame and attention for contributing to the improvement of infrastructure, water shortages, city, and pollution management. His tenure ended abruptly when he had to serve 4 months of imprisonment for a controversial poem that was considered to incite religious hatred, and he even faced a temporary ban from politics.
In 2001, Erdogan co-founded Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) as a conservative democratic party, and in the 2002 general elections, the party won, but he was banned from office because of his conviction. He entered the parliament in March 2003 after a legal amendment and became the Prime Minister of Turkey. He served the position from 2003 to 2014 and did remarkable development in major fields and negotiated with the European Union in mid 200s.
The party repeatedly won elections from 2007 to 2011 and sustained the power, but also faced criticism in 2010 over governance and faced widespread backlash for 2013 Gezi Park protests. In August 2014, Erdogan became the first ever directly elected President of Turkey, but got executive powers in 2017 after the constitutional referendum that changed the presidential system of the country. He contested again under the new system and was re-elected in 2018. In 2023, he won again and is still serving as the President of the country.
Shot to Fame
Erdogan’s shot to fame moment came when he was elected as the Mayor of Istanbul in 1994, but later gained more attention for getting imprisoned for a controversial poem in 1998, resulting in the ban. His major breakthrough moment came when he became the Prime Minister of Turkey in 2003, and the biggest achievement came when he was elected as the first directly elected President of the nation in 2014.
Relationships
Erdogan married Emine Erdogan on 4th July, 1979, and the couple is still going strong. Together they have four children: Ahmet Burak Erdoğan, born in 1979, Necmettin Bilal Erdoğan, born in 1981, Esra Erdoğan, born in 1983, and Sümeyye Erdoğan, born in 1985.
Net Worth and Source of Income
Erdogan’s net worth is said to be $500 million, which he earned from his active political career and serving different administrative roles throughout his life.
