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Also see: Turkey;
Jump to: 2018; 2019; 2020;
Undated: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current President of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as Prime Minister from 2003 to 2014 and as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to general election victories in 2002, 2007 and 2011 before standing down upon his election as President in 2014. Coming from an Islamist political background and as a self-described conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and liberal economic policies in his administration.[3] Under his administration, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding.[4]
Political scientists no longer consider Turkey as a fully fledged democracy, citing the lack of free and fair elections, purges and jailing of opponents, curtailed press freedom, and Erdoğan's efforts to broadening his executive powers and minimize his executive accountability.[4][12][13][14] Widespread 2013 protests broke out against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdoğan's policies; he criticized the protestors and then had them suppressed by police, which killed 22 people, injured numerous others and brought international condemnation from foreign governments and human rights organizations. This stalled negotiations related to EU membership. Following a split with Gülen, Erdoğan promulgated sweeping judicial reforms he insisted were needed to purge Gülen's sympathisers, but which were criticised for threatening judicial independence. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan.[15][16][17] His government has since come under fire for alleged human rights violations and crackdown on press and social media, having blocked access to Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube on numerous occasions.[18] Erdoğan's government lifted the bans when directed by court orders,[19][20][21] but later reimposed them.[22][23] In 2016, Turkey under Erdoğan began a crackdown on freedom of the press; in 2016 and 2017, more journalists have been incarcerated in Turkey than in any other country.[24] He was re-elected in the 2018 general election and assumed the role of Executive President and became both the head of state and head of government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan
Undated: 2018 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presidential campaign
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, incumbent President of Turkey since 2014, was officially nominated as the presidential candidate of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) on 3 May 2018.[1] Shortly thereafter, the nominally oppositional Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) reiterated that it would endorse Erdoğan's candidacy, and would jointly apply to the electoral commission for its formal registration.[2] After the MHP announced that they will endorse Erdoğan’s campaign, the BBP announced the support for Erdoğan’s candidacy.[3] In early May, it was confirmed by Erdoğan that he would be visiting the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in the early stages of the campaign, most likely on 20 May 2018, and hold campaign rallies with the Bosnian Turks to drum up support for his re-election bid.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Recep_Tayyip_Erdo%C4%9Fan_presidential_campaign
-- 2018 --
April 19: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: a dictator in all but name seeks complete control
Turkey’s president is unlikely to lose an election that will make him more powerful than Atatürk
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/19/recep-tayyip-erdogan-turkey-president-election-dictator-seeks-total-control
June 25: Turkey’s president just won reelection — and a dangerous set of new powers
Erdoğan is now the most powerful president in Turkey’s history.
https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/25/17500772/turkey-erdogan-election-results
August 16: Erdoğan, Trump, and the Strongman Politics Devastating Turkey’s Economy
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/erdogan-trump-and-the-strongman-politics-devastating-turkeys-economy
August 29: The Myth of Erdogan’s Power
Far from a sultan, the Turkish president is hemmed in by the nationalists who back him—and they don’t want him to get too close to Russia.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/29/the-myth-of-erdogans-power/
October 26: What’s at Stake for Erdogan in the Khashoggi Affair?
Turkey's Dangerous Game
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/turkey/2018-10-26/whats-stake-erdogan-khashoggi-affair
December 21: Mattis resignation triggered by phone call between Trump and Erdoğan
US president complied with Turkish leader’s demands and took own advisers by surprise, accounts say
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/21/james-mattis-resignation-trump-erdogan-phone-call
December 24: Trump told Turkey's Erdogan in Dec. 14 call about Syria, 'it's all yours. We are done'
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/23/politics/donald-trump-erdogan-turkey/index.html
December 24: Trump says Erdogan will 'eradicate' Isil in Syria and praises the Turkish leader as 'a man who can do it'
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/24/trump-says-erdogan-will-finish-isil-syria-praises-turkish-leader/
December 25: Thankful Erdogan invites Trump to visit and sends troops to Syrian border ahead of U.S. pullout
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/12/25/world/politics-diplomacy-world/thankful-erdogan-invites-trump-visit-sends-troops-syrian-border-ahead-u-s-pullout/#.XIochxIiK1s
-- 2019 --
January 8: Erdogan Cancels Meeting With Bolton, As U.S. Seeks To Reassure Allies On Syria
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/08/683177946/erdogan-cancels-meeting-with-bolton-as-u-s-seeks-to-reassure-allies-on-syria
January 10: Erdogan Rejoiced at Trump's Syria Pullout. Then He Realized It Was Trump
After Bolton remarks, Erdogan must decide between attacking Kurds and risking face-off with U.S. troops, or waiting for their departure
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/.premium-with-u-s-exit-from-syria-unraveling-erdogan-faces-serious-dilemma-1.6824953
January 22: 'I won't back down': Trump commits to Syria withdrawal in call with Erdogan
March 8: US President Donald Trump this week opened a new chapter in his “trade wars,” with his latest move to remove India and Turkey from the duty-free imports system, the Generalized System of Preferences.
Under the GSP, eligible countries can sell certain products to the American market without facing any import tariffs. The news comes as a bad surprise to Turkey, whose vulnerable economy is increasingly dependent on export revenues, given continuously weakening domestic demand.
https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/03/article/erdogan-cannot-ignore-trumps-trade-wars/
March 11: The Turkish economy has fallen into recession for the first time in a decade, according to data released on Monday. The timing could not be worse for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with critical local elections scheduled for the end of the month.
According to state figures, the gross domestic product shrank by 2.4 percent in the last quarter, a sharper contraction than most predictions. The previous quarter saw a 1.6 percent decline, heralding two successive quarters of negative growth — the definition of a recession.
The Turkish economy is still reeling from the aftermath of last year's currency collapse, triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump hitting Ankara with sanctions over the detention in Turkey of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who has since been released.
https://www.voanews.com/a/erdogan-s-economic-woes-grow-ahead-of-key-elections-in-turkey/4824263.html
-- 2020 --
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