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101-607: Taraf has published a series of highly-controversial stories that revealed the involvement of the Turkish military in daily political affairs. The revealed documents, such as coup plans that involved the bombing of historical mosques in Turkey ( "Sledgehammer" coup plan ) and bombing of a museum ( Operation Cage Action Plan ), significantly damaged the social image of the Turkish military. The sources that leaked such critical insider information to Taraf are still unknown. The response of

202-447: A pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. This version included an additional stanza in the beginning, its first two verses reading "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets / The minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers...." Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded by the judge as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. In his defense, Erdoğan said that

303-457: A presidential system , introducing term limits and expanding executive powers, and Turkey's migrant crisis . Erdoğan responded to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine by closing the Bosphorus to Russian naval reinforcements, brokering a deal between Russia and Ukraine regarding the export of grain, and mediating a prisoner exchange. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was born on 26 February 1954 in

404-612: A 29 April rally in Istanbul, tens of thousands at separate protests on 4 May in Manisa and Çanakkale , and one million in İzmir on 13 May. The stage of the elections of 2007 was set for a fight for legitimacy in the eyes of voters between his government and the CHP. Erdoğan used the event that took place during the ill-fated Presidential elections a few months earlier as a part of the general election campaign of his party. On 22 July 2007,

505-474: A ban on 30 July 2008, a year after winning 46.7% of the vote in national elections, although judges did cut the party's public funding by 50%. In the June 2011 elections, Erdoğan's governing party won 327 seats (49.83% of the popular vote) making Erdoğan the only prime minister in Turkey's history to win three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than the previous election. The second party,

606-483: A columnist for the Turkish daily newspaper Milliyet . "This is the symbolic moment where the first Turkish republic ends and the second republic begins." On 15 August 2011 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 10 held the first hearing in the second Balyoz trial. 26 defendants were present, 21 of them in pre-trial detention. Prime suspect General Bilgin Balanlı read out a 4-page defence pleading not guilty. The demand to recuse

707-489: A considerable loss in his mission to create what he calls the country's most prestigious newspaper. He considers Taraf an investment that will eventually pay off. Some prominent names of Taraf , such as reporter Mehmet Baransu , columnist Emre (Emrullah) Uslu, and former columnist Önder Aytaç are known for their affiliation with the Gülen movement , although it has been denied that they act as quasi-official representatives of

808-424: A constitutional reform package. The reform package was first vetoed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer . Then he applied to the Turkish constitutional court about the reform package, because the president is unable to veto amendments for the second time. The Turkish constitutional court did not find any problems in the packet and 68.95% of the voters supported the constitutional changes. The reforms consisted of electing

909-450: A consultant and senior manager in the private sector. Becoming active in local politics, he was elected Welfare Party 's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984 and Istanbul chair in 1985. Following the 1994 local elections , Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul. He said at the time: "Democracy is like a train: when we reach our destination, we get off". In 1998 he was convicted for inciting religious hatred and banned from politics after reciting

1010-635: A courageous step to resolve chronic issues that constitute an obstacle along Turkey's development, progression and empowerment." Erdoğan passed a partial amnesty to reduce penalties faced by many members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK who had surrendered to the government. On 23 November 2011, during a televised meeting of his party in Ankara, he apologized on behalf of the state for the Dersim massacre , where many Alevis and Zazas were killed. In 2013

1111-450: A crime, therefore we do not need to apologise ... It will not have any benefit other than stirring up trouble, disturbing our peace and undoing the steps which have been taken." In 2011, Erdoğan ordered the tearing-down of the 33-meter-tall (108 ft) Monument to Humanity , a Turkish–Armenian friendship monument in Kars , which was commissioned in 2006 and represented a metaphor of

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1212-615: A definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of

1313-591: A group of specialists in Ankara to be used in Balyoz Case. On 21 September 2012 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court announced its verdict. Some 300 of the 365 suspects were sentenced to prison terms, while 34 suspects were acquitted. Three retired generals were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment: Çetin Doğan (retired 1st Army Cmdr. General), İbrahim Fırtına (Air Force Cmdr. retired General) and Özden Örnek (retired Navy Cmdr. Adm.) on charges of "attempting to overthrow

1414-413: A house that belonged to Col. Hakan Büyük's son. The new evidence consists of written documents, video files and digital material on a flash disk, and includes plans to be put into action if the coup attempt were to fail. The trial started on 16 December 2010 with the first court hearing, held in the court house of Silivri Prison . The presiding judge, Ömer Diken, was appointed only two days earlier, after

1515-583: A majority of 58%. In 2009, Prime Minister Erdoğan's government announced a plan to help end the quarter-century-long Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict that had cost more than 40,000 lives. The government's plan, supported by the European Union , intended to allow the Kurdish language to be used in all broadcast media and political campaigns, and restored Kurdish names to cities and towns that had been given Turkish ones . Erdoğan said, "We took

1616-466: A new election for 9 February 2003 . By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post. On 14 April 2007, an estimated 300,000 people marched in Ankara to protest against

1717-477: A number of issues such as the right of individuals to appeal to the highest court, the creation of the ombudsman 's office; the possibility to negotiate a nationwide labour contract; gender equality; the ability of civilian courts to convict members of the military; the right of civil servants to go on strike; a privacy law; and the structure of the Constitutional Court . The referendum was agreed by

1818-529: A party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party , National Salvation Party and Welfare Party . They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party with its members being Muslim Democrats following the example of the Europe's Christian Democrats . When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001,

1919-578: A percentage of annual GDP declined from 74% in 2002 to 39% in 2009. In 2012, Turkey had a lower ratio of public debt to GDP than 21 of 27 members of the European Union and a lower budget deficit to GDP ratio than 23 of them. In 2003, Erdoğan's government pushed through the Labor Act, a comprehensive reform of Turkey's labor laws. The law greatly expanded the rights of employees, establishing a 45-hour workweek and limiting overtime work to 270 hours

2020-661: A poem by Ziya Gökalp that compared mosques to barracks and the faithful to an army. Erdoğan was released from prison in 1999 and formed the AKP, abandoning openly Islamist policies. Erdoğan led the AKP to a landslide victory in the election for the Grand National Assembly in 2002, and became prime minister after winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011 . His tenure consisted of economic recovery from

2121-728: A poor conservative Muslim family. Erdoğan's family is originally from Adjara , a region in Georgia . Although Erdoğan was reported to have said in 2003 that he was of Georgian origin and that his origins were in Batumi , he later denied this. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–1988) and Tenzile Erdoğan ( née Mutlu; 1924–2011). While Erdoğan attended school in Istanbul, his summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu , Rize, where his family originates from. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened

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2222-471: A rank of 153 out of a total of 179 countries in 2021. Freedom House reported a slight recovery in later years and awarded Turkey a Press Freedom Score of 55/100 in 2012 after a low point of 48/100 in 2006. In 2011, Erdoğan's government made legal reforms to return properties of Christian and Jewish minorities which were seized by the Turkish government in the 1930s. The total value of the properties returned reached $ 2 billion (USD). Under Erdoğan,

2323-492: A record low of 1.17%, below those of nine EU member countries and Russia. In 2002, the Turkish Central Bank had $ 26.5 billion in reserves. This amount reached $ 92.2 billion in 2011. During Erdoğan's leadership, inflation fell from 32% to 9.0% in 2004. Since then, Turkish inflation has continued to fluctuate around 9% and is still one of the highest inflation rates in the world. The Turkish public debt as

2424-482: A regular state school. That he eventually received a high school diploma from this school is a subject of debate. According to his official biography, Erdoğan subsequently studied business administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences ( Turkish : Aksaray İktisat ve Ticaret Yüksekokulu ), now known as Marmara University 's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. Both

2525-425: A shadow like genocide". US President Barack Obama called for a "full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts", but again stopped short of labelling it "genocide", despite his campaign promise to do so. During Erdoğan's time as Prime Minister, the far-reaching powers of the 1991 Anti-Terror Law were reduced. In 2004, the death penalty was abolished for all circumstances. The Democratic initiative process

2626-618: A shift towards a more authoritarian style of government. His economic policies have led to high inflation rates and the depreciation of the value of the Turkish lira . He has intervened in the ongoing conflicts in Syria and Libya , launched operations against the Islamic State , Syrian Democratic Forces and Assad's forces , and has made threats against Greece . He oversaw the transformation of Turkey's parliamentary system into

2727-511: A special mass in St. Peter's Basilica marking the centenary of the events, described atrocities against Armenian civilians in 1915–1922 as "the first genocide of the 20th century". In protest, Erdoğan recalled the Turkish ambassador from the Vatican, and summoned the Vatican's ambassador, to express "disappointment" at what he called a discriminatory message. He later stated "we don't carry a stain or

2828-657: A statement in nine languages (including two dialects of Armenian), offering condolences for the mass killings of Armenians and stating that the events of 1915 had inhumane consequences. The statement described the mass killings as the two nations' shared pain and said: "Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among one another." Pope Francis in April 2015, at

2929-399: A transparent trial was expected and he tried to understand, how freedom of press could be discussed, when journalists were being arrested. Hüseyin Çelik called this an interference into internal affairs. Dani Rodrik and Pinar Doğan, son-in-law and daughter of chief suspect Çetin Doğan , stated, "what lies behind the trials is an apparent effort to discredit the government’s opponents on

3030-430: A vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old. As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing

3131-457: A white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football in Camialtıspor FC, a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him. Erdoğan

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3232-510: A year, provided legal protection against discrimination due to sex, religion, or political affiliation, prohibited discrimination between permanent and temporary workers, entitled employees terminated without "valid cause" to compensation, and mandated written contracts for employment arrangements lasting a year or more. Erdoğan increased the budget of the Ministry of Education from 7.5 billion lira in 2002 to 34 billion lira in 2011,

3333-543: Is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which he co-founded in 2001. He also served as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. Erdoğan was born in Beyoğlu , Istanbul , and studied at the Aksaray Academy of Economic and Commercial Sciences , before working as

3434-521: Is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa , a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah . Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale Primary School in 1965, and the Istanbul İmam Hatip High School , a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AK Party . One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of

3535-642: Is rather likely that Sledgehammer was the first coup plan devised right after AKP’s victory in the parliamentary elections on 3 November 2002." On 16 January 2013 Mr. Orhan Aykut confessed to the Aydınlık newspaper that together with Mr. İhsan Arslan (AKP deputy at the time) they received a suitcase of real Balyoz Seminar documents from Mr. Iskender Pala (who was expelled from the Turkish Navy for not being secular) at Movenpick Hotel in Istanbul in 2007 and using these documents they had created fake evidences with

3636-511: The 2016 Turkish coup attempt and the following purges . Six thousand additional deaths occurred in Turkey alone for 2015–2022. Yet, as of 2022 the intensity of the PKK-Turkey conflict did decrease in recent years. In the previous decade, Erdogan and the AKP government used anti-PKK, martial rhetoric and external operations to raise Turkish nationalist votes before elections. Erdoğan has said multiple times that Turkey would acknowledge

3737-526: The European Union notably on freedom of speech , freedom of the press and Kurdish minority rights . Demands by activists for the recognition of LGBT rights were publicly rejected by government members. Reporters Without Borders reported a continuous decrease in Freedom of the Press during Erdoğan's later terms, with a rank of around 100 on its Press Freedom Index during his first term and

3838-586: The Istanbul Bar Association were charged with attempting to influence members of the judiciary in the trial, after they had intervened in a 2012 hearing to demand a fair trial. The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights said their intervention was legal and approved by the Presiding Judge at the time. Recep Tayyip Erdo%C4%9Fan [REDACTED] Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954)

3939-614: The Quran , the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , and the Arabic language . Erdoğan studied the Quran at the İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him hoca ("teacher" or "religious official"). Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union ( Milli Türk Talebe Birliği ), who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter

4040-587: The economic crisis of 2001 , the start of EU membership negotiations , and the reduction of military influence on politics . In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict , negotiations which ended three years later. In 2014, Erdoğan became the country's first directly elected president . Erdoğan's presidency has been marked by democratic backsliding and

4141-478: The mass killings of Armenians during World War I as genocide only after a thorough investigation by a joint Turkish-Armenian commission consisting of historians, archaeologists , political scientists and other experts. In 2005, Erdoğan and the main opposition party leader Deniz Baykal wrote a letter to President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan , proposing the creation of a joint Turkish-Armenian commission. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected

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4242-475: The 2007 election campaign. The main opposition party CHP was not interested in altering the Constitution on a big scale, making it impossible to form a Constitutional Commission ( Anayasa Uzlaşma Komisyonu ). The amendments lacked the two-thirds majority needed to become law instantly, but secured 336 votes in the 550-seat parliament – enough to put the proposals to a referendum. The reform package included

4343-464: The AKP won an important victory over the opposition, garnering 46.7% of the popular vote. 22 July elections marked only the second time in the Republic of Turkey's history whereby an incumbent governing party won an election by increasing its share of popular support. On 14 March 2008, Turkey's Chief Prosecutor asked the country's Constitutional Court to ban Erdoğan's governing party. The party escaped

4444-614: The CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled

4545-465: The Cemaat movement of infiltrating the judiciary following a government corruption scandal , beginning a large-scale operation of either removing or relocating judicial and law enforcement employees. On 31 March 2015 all 236 suspects were acquitted after the case's prosecutor argued that digital data in the files submitted as evidence in the case were faked and did not constitute evidence. Reports of

4646-543: The Gül government ended his political ban. The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit , Bahceli , Yılmaz and Çiller , resigned. The second largest party,

4747-492: The Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch. He held this position until the 1980 military coup which dissolved all major political parties. He went on to be a consultant and senior executive in the private sector in the aftermath of the coup. Three years later, in 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan 's followers into

4848-582: The Pınarhisar prison again for the first time in fourteen years. After the visit, he said "For me, Pınarhisar is a symbol of rebirth, where we prepared the establishment of the Justice and Development Party". Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party , there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned

4949-546: The Republican People's Party (CHP), received 135 seats (25.94%), the nationalist MHP received 53 seats (13.01%), and the Independents received 35 seats (6.58%). A US$ 100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After the opposition parties deadlocked the 2007 presidential election by boycotting the parliament, the ruling AKP proposed

5050-505: The Turkish economy between 2002 and 2012 caused a growth of 64% in real GDP and a 43% increase in GDP per capita; considerably higher numbers were commonly advertised but these did not account for the inflation of the US dollar between 2002 and 2012. The average annual growth in GDP per capita was 3.6%. The growth in real GDP between 2002 and 2012 was higher than the values from developed countries, but

5151-490: The Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu ), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002 . Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after

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5252-510: The Turkish government tightened the laws on the sale and consumption of alcohol , banning all advertising and increasing the tax on alcoholic beverages. In 2002, Erdoğan inherited a Turkish economy that was beginning to recover from a recession as a result of reforms implemented by Kemal Derviş . Erdoğan supported Finance Minister Ali Babacan in enforcing macro-economic policies. Erdoğan tried to attract more foreign investors to Turkey and lifted many government regulations. The cash-flow into

5353-417: The Turkish military to Taraf included canceling the newspaper's accreditation from press releases at its headquarters. A political journal, Nokta , had similarly published leaked military information ( Sarıkız, Ayışığı, Yakamoz and Eldiven ) and was closed down in 2007 due to pressure. The founder and owner of Taraf , Başar Arslan, dismisses accusations of bias and outside funding, saying that he has made

5454-477: The accused were ordered released from prison, pending a retrial, after a finding by the Constitutional Court that their rights had been violated. The timing of the decision fuelled further accusations regarding the involvement of the Cemaat movement initially, since by 2014 the AKP and Gülen had fallen out with each other. Furthermore, the then-AKP Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan openly accused

5555-479: The alleged plot first surfaced in the liberal Taraf newspaper on 20 January 2010. Journalist Mehmet Baransu said he had been passed documents detailing plans to bomb two Istanbul mosques and accuse Greece of shooting down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea . The plan was to stir up chaos and justify a military coup. The extensive materials received by Taraf , which were passed to prosecutors, formed

5656-498: The authenticity and status of his degree have been the subject of disputes and controversy over whether the diploma is legitimate and ought to be considered sufficient to make him eligible as a candidate for the presidency. In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of

5757-475: The basis of the flimsiest evidence and often, far worse, by framing them with planted evidence and forged documents" in their personal blog page. Commenting on all investigations in the Ergenekon cases they alleged: the key evidence is typically produced by anonymous informants; they provide the "originals" of secret documents detailing criminal activities and these revelations are followed by selective leaks to

5858-561: The budgetary and market requirements of the two during his administration and received every loan installment, the only time any Turkish government has done so. Erdoğan inherited a debt of $ 23.5 billion to the IMF, which was reduced to $ 0.9 billion in 2012. He decided not to sign a new deal. Turkey's debt to the IMF was thus declared to be completely paid and he announced that the IMF could borrow from Turkey. In 2010, five-year credit default swaps for Turkey's sovereign debt were trading at

5959-568: The bulk of the prosecution case. On 21 February 2010 operations were carried out in nine provinces. 49 people were detained including admirals, generals and colonels, some of them retired. On 23 February six of them were released, but seven were arrested. Another five suspects were arrested on 24 February. Further detentions and arrests followed, but at the beginning of April 2010 the number of people in pre-trial detention had dropped to nine, while 35 arrested suspects had been released, including prime suspect retired general Çetin Doğan , who had been

6060-574: The capital, Ankara. Erdoğan governed pragmatically, focusing on bread-and-butter issues. He aimed to tackle the chronic problems plaguing the metropolis, such as water shortage , pollution – waste collection issues in particular – and severely congested traffic. He undertook an infrastructure overhaul: expanding and modernizing the water grid with hundreds of kilometers of new water pipes being laid, and constructing more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and stretches of highway to mitigate traffic. State-of-the-art recycling facilities were built and air pollution

6161-458: The case of three defendants and dropped charges for one defendant. Arrest warrants against 250 defendants in pre-trial detention were prolonged. In addition, six arrest warrants were issued against defendants attending the hearing and 69 decisions on apprehension were issued against defendants who had not come to the hearing. The verdict was to be appealed. In 2013 the President and Board of

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6262-417: The chief of general staff," Koşaner said. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accepted the resignations and appointed Necdet Özel as the chief of the armed forces. The decision stamped the civilian authority on the country's military, which has long regarded itself as a protector of Turkey's secular traditions."This is effectively the end of the military’s role in Turkish democracy," said Asli Aydintasbas,

6363-594: The commander of the First Army. On 31 March and 1 April, 28 suspects in the investigation were released. A judge released 19 of the suspects due to the "existence of serious doubt regarding the crime". 9 others were released due to their "social standing." On 5 April 2010 an additional 95 people (including 86 military personnel, 70 of them on active duty), were detained in 14 provinces on the same day. Nine suspects released earlier were rearrested on 6 April. However, Istanbul's chief prosecutor, Aykut Cengiz Engin, ordered

6464-429: The course of the campaign, he was mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. In an upset, he won with 25.19% of the popular vote, making it the first time a mayor of Istanbul got elected from his political party. His win coincided with a wave of Welfare Party victories nationwide, as they won 28 provincial mayoralties - most out of any party - and numerous metropolitan seats, including

6565-400: The court charged 22 suspects. On the same day the chief of the Turkish armed forces, Işık Koşaner , has resigned along with the army, navy and air force heads. Koşaner portrayed his resignation as a protest at the jailing of military officers. "It has become impossible for me to continue in this high office, because I am unable to fulfil my responsibility to protect the rights of my personnel as

6666-401: The court was sent to Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 11. The hearing was adjourned to 3 October 2011. In mid-November 2011 a third 264-page indictment was sent to Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 10, accusing 143 suspects, 66 of them in pre-trial detention with an attempt to overthrow the government. The prosecutor demanded to combine trial 1 and 2 with this case. After the cases 1 and 2 had been combined

6767-454: The daily, Başar Arslan stated that the resignations resulted from difference of opinion that developed in recent times, and nevertheless, the newspaper will continue to be published. Sledgehammer (coup plan) Operation Sledgehammer ( Turkish : Balyoz Harekâtı ) is the name of an alleged Turkish secularist military coup plan dating back to 2003, in response to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) gaining office. Claims of

6868-491: The district mayoralty of Beyoğlu, finishing in second place with 22.8% of the vote. In the 1991 general election , the Welfare Party more than doubled its share of the vote in Istanbul compared to four years prior, reaching 16.7%. At first, Erdoğan, who led his party's district list, was thought to have been elected to parliament. However, as a product of the open-list proportional representation system adopted during

6969-502: The expert opinion the prosecutor's office had demanded it was hard to understand why the court had ordered the continuation of pre-trial detention. Mehmet Ali Şahin , President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey , stated that the press release casts a doubt in the judiciary in Turkey. Deputy President of the AKP , Hüseyin Çelik called this an interference in an ongoing trial. US Ambassador to Ankara Francis J. Ricciardone stated that

7070-419: The first time in modern Turkish history in 2015. The Turkish government approved a law in 2008 to return properties confiscated in the past by the state to non-Muslim foundations. It also paved the way for the free allocation of worship places such as synagogues and churches to non-Muslim foundations. However, European officials noted a return to more authoritarian ways after the stalling of Turkey's bid to join

7171-450: The government by force" but the terms were later reduced to 20 years' because of the "incomplete attempt at staging a coup". In the case of 78 defendants (including Engin Alan ) the court commuted aggravated life imprisonment to 18 years' imprisonment. While 214 defendants received sentences of 16 years' imprisonment, one defendant was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. The court separated

7272-593: The government of Erdoğan began a peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish Government, mediated by parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic party (HDP). In 2015, following AKP electoral defeat, the rise of a social democrat, pro-Kurdish rights opposition party , and the minor Ceylanpınar incident , he decided that the peace process was over and supported

7373-412: The highest share of the national budget given to one ministry. Before his prime ministership the military received the highest share of the national budget. Compulsory education was increased from eight years to twelve. In 2003, the Turkish government, together with UNICEF , initiated a campaign called "Come on girls, [let's go] to school!" ( Turkish : Haydi Kızlar Okula! ). The goal of this campaign

7474-494: The masses". Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at the Ankara University Faculty of Political Science , commonly known as Mülkiye, but only students with regular high school diplomas were eligible to apply, thereby excluding Imam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School,

7575-439: The media about the "evidence". Against this Fevzi Bilgin, Assistant Professor of Political Science, St. Mary's College of Maryland held, "Mr. Rodnik’s interpretation and presentation of the case is neither unbiased nor genuinely informational. It is also a platform to internationalize the grievances of the current military establishment in Turkey and defame the current government as being religiously motivated." In his opinion "It

7676-471: The movement. Taraf also served the interests of the Gülen movement in other ways, including silencing the allegations of cheating in compulsory public servants’ examinations in Turkey. In 2011 Taraf became the first Turkish partner of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks , joining internationally known publications in signing a contract to publish the site's leaked documents firsthand. The Turkish daily

7777-465: The newly founded Welfare Party (RP). The new party, like its predecessors subscribed to Erbakan's strain of Islamism , the National view . He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and head of its Istanbul branch in 1985. Erdoğan entered the parliamentary by-elections of 1986 as a candidate in Istanbul's 6th electoral district, but failed to get elected. Three years later, Erdoğan ran for

7878-531: The number of universities in Turkey nearly doubled, from 98 in 2002 to 186 in October 2012. The Prime Minister kept his campaign promises by starting the Fatih project in which all state schools, from preschool to high school level, received a total of 620,000 smart boards, while tablet computers were distributed to 17 million students and approximately one million teachers and administrators. In June 2017

7979-663: The number of defendants had increased to 244, 184 of them in pre-trial detention. Should this case also be merged the number of defendants will be 367. When on 5 April 2011 the Court rejected the demands for release for the second time, the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces issued a press release. Reminding that the Turkish Armed Forces repeatedly informed on the seminars in question and

8080-459: The offer because he asserted that the proposal itself was "insincere and not serious". He added: "This issue cannot be considered at historical level with Turks, who themselves politicized the problem." In December 2008, Erdoğan criticized the I Apologize campaign by Turkish intellectuals to recognize the Armenian genocide, saying, "I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit

8181-414: The original Sledgehammer document, claimed to have been produced in 2003, was actually created using Microsoft Word 2007 . Other irregularities included the forging of signatures of high-ranking military officers, such as that of General Çetin Doğan . In 2012 some 300 of the 365 suspects were sentenced to prison terms, while 34 suspects were acquitted. The case was to be appealed. On 19 June 2014 all

8282-535: The original construction of the monument said the municipality was destroying not just a "monument to humanity" but "humanity itself". The demolition was not unopposed; among its detractors were several Turkish artists. Two of them, the painter Bedri Baykam and his associate, Pyramid Art Gallery general coordinator Tugba Kurtulmus, were stabbed after a meeting with other artists at the Istanbul Akatlar cultural center. On 23 April 2014, Erdoğan's office issued

8383-628: The people, gave out his e-mail address and established municipal hot lines. Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference , which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award. In December 1997 in Siirt , Erdoğan recited a modified version of the " Soldier's prayer " poem written by Ziya Gökalp ,

8484-402: The plot first surfaced in the liberal Taraf newspaper, which was passed documents detailing plans to bomb two Istanbul mosques and accuse Greece of shooting down a Turkish plane over the Aegean Sea . The plan was to stir up chaos and justify a military coup. The army said the plans had been discussed but only as part of a scenario-based planning exercise at a military seminar. The case

8585-502: The poem was published in state-approved books. How this version of the poem ended up in a book published by the Turkish Standards Institution remained a topic of discussion. Erdoğan was given a ten-month prison sentence. He was forced to give up his mayoral position due to his conviction. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in elections. He had appealed for

8686-406: The possible candidacy of Erdoğan in the 2007 presidential election, afraid that if elected as president, he would alter the secular nature of the Turkish state. Erdoğan announced on 24 April 2007 that the party had nominated Abdullah Gül as the AKP candidate in the presidential election. The protests continued over the next several weeks, with over one million people reported to have turned out at

8787-403: The president by popular vote instead of by parliament; reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing from 367 to 184 the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions. Reforming the Constitution was one of the main pledges of the AKP during

8888-556: The previous presiding judge was removed because of an ongoing disciplinary investigation. 187 defendants were present. Nine defendants including retired General Ergin Saygun had not appeared. None of the defendants were in pre-trial detention. After the hearing of 11 February 2011 the court decided to arrest 163 defendants. Meanwhile, the court room in Silivri Prison was extended. On 20 February 2011 an additional indictment

8989-420: The previous term, after all votes expressing a candidate preference were tabulated, it was instead Mustafa Baş who earned the seat allocated to the Welfare Party. A difference of about 4,000 preferential votes separated the two, with Baş's ~13,000 to Erdoğan's ~9,000. In the local elections of 1994 , Erdoğan ran as a candidate for Mayor of Istanbul . He was a young, dark horse candidate in a crowded field. Over

9090-402: The rapprochement of the two countries after many years of dispute over the events of 1915. Erdoğan justified the removal by stating that the monument was offensively close to the tomb of an 11th-century Islamic scholar, and that its shadow ruined the view of that site, while Kars municipality officials said it was illegally erected in a protected area. However, the former mayor of Kars who approved

9191-545: The removal of prosecutors Mehmet Berk and Bilal Bayraktar from the probe as his order "any detention decision should not be taken without my approval" was not abided by. On 6 April Engin also replaced coordinating prosecutor of the investigation Süleyman Pehlivan with Mehmet Ergül. In May and June 2011 another round of interrogations followed resulting in the arrest of 15 members of the Turkish Armed Forces . The arrests are based on documents reportedly seized in February from

9292-508: The revocation of the parliamentary immunity of the HDP parliamentarians. Violent confrontation resumed in 2015–2017, mainly in the South East of Turkey, resulting in higher death tolls and several external operations on the part of the Turkish military. Representatives and elected HDP have been systematically arrested, removed, and replaced in their offices, this tendency being confirmed after

9393-519: The rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of

9494-486: The sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to four months instead (24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999). He was transferred to Pınarhisar prison in Kırklareli . The day Erdoğan went to prison, he released an album called This Song Doesn't End Here . The album features a tracklist of seven poems and became the best-selling album of Turkey in 1999, selling over one million copies. In 2013, Erdoğan visited

9595-425: Was close to average when developing countries are also taken into account. The ranking of the Turkish economy in terms of GDP moved slightly from 17 to 16 during this decade. A major consequence of the policies between 2002 and 2012 was the widening of the current account deficit from US$ 600 million to US$ 58 billion (2013 est.) Since 1961, Turkey has signed 19 IMF loan accords. Erdoğan's government satisfied

9696-602: Was forwarded to Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 10. It charged 28 defendants, 15 of them in pre-trial detention in connection with documents found at the home of Colonel Hakan Büyük's son with "the attempt to remove the government of the Turkish Republic" and demanded sentences between 15 and 20 years' imprisonment. In case that the indictment is accepted the case may be merged with the main Sledgehammer (Balyoz) case in which 196 defendants are on trial. On 29 July 2011

9797-462: Was heavily criticised by the political opposition for the suspected involvement of high-ranking bureaucrats and legal officials which were close to the Cemaat movement , an Islamist movement led by exiled cleric and (then) AKP ally Fethullah Gülen . Numerous legal flaws and improper procedures throughout the case, and the lack of a response by the government also drew concern. This included the case that

9898-650: Was initiated, with the goal to improve democratic standards in general and the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in particular. In 2012, the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey and the Ombudsman Institution were established. The UN Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture was ratified. Children are no longer prosecuted under terrorism legislation. The Jewish community were allowed to celebrate Hanukkah publicly for

9999-406: Was picked by WikiLeaks because it is "the bravest newspaper in Turkey", as described by the site's founder, Julian Assange . On 14 December 2012, founding editor-in-chief Ahmet Altan , his assistant editor Yasemin Çongar, columnists Murat Belge and Neşe Düzel stepped down from their posts at the newspaper. The next day, columnist Hadi Uluengin followed the leaving group of journalists. Owner of

10100-400: Was reduced through a plan to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality 's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. He also opened up City Hall to

10201-469: Was to close the gender gap in primary school enrollment through the provision of a quality basic education for all girls, especially in southeast Turkey. In 2005, the parliament granted amnesty to students expelled from universities before 2003. The amnesty applied to students dismissed on academic or disciplinary grounds. In 2004, textbooks became free of charge and since 2008 every province in Turkey has its own university. During Erdoğan's Premiership,

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