February 26 In History: Turkish Leader Scraping Secularism, Erdogan Born

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - On February 26, 1954 Recep Tayyip Erdogan was born. Erdogan grew to become a prominent Turkish politician. He served as Prime Minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014, before continuing to become President of Turkey until now.

Since he was young, Erdogan has shown his desire to enter the world of politics. In high school, Erdogan was known as a fiery orator in the political struggle for Islam.

When meeting Necmettin Erbakan, a veteran Islamic politician, Erdogan became active in the parties led by Erbakan. Yes, even though at that time there was a ban on religious-based political parties.

Erdogan while serving as PM of Turkey (Source: Commons WIkimedia)

Citing Britannica, in 1994 Erdogan was elected mayor of Istanbul. The election of the first Islamists as mayor shakes Turkey's secular stance.

As a politician, Erdogan has proven to be competent and astute. He succumbed to protests against the construction of a mosque in the downtown square but banned the sale of alcoholic drinks.

In 1998, Erdogan was convicted of inciting religious hatred by reciting poetry comparing mosques to barracks, minarets with bayonets, and believers to soldiers. He was jailed for ten months, then resigned as mayor.

After serving four months of his sentence, Erdogan was released from prison in 1999 and returned to politics. When Erbakan's Benevolent Party was outlawed in 2001, Erdogan cut ties with Erbakan and helped form the Justice and Development Party.

On March 9, 2003, Erdogan won the election and a few days later was asked by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to form a new government. Erdogan took office as President of Turkey on May 14, 2003.

Eroding secularism

Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

Erdogan's early years in office saw him as an apprentice, focused on winning the trust of the Turks. Erdogan has become a politician who is more confident and skilled at manipulating the state apparatus.

Erdogan has the ambition to make Turkey a member of European countries. In support of Turkey's bid in the European Union, parliament helped it castrate a powerful military and pass laws subject to civilian control.

Under PM Erdogan's rule, Turkey held referendums in 2007 and 2010 on constitutional changes to the rights of women and workers as well as incorporating more proportional representation into the system. However, the changes also strengthened Erdogan's party grip on power and ushered in a new era from secularism to religious conservatism.

Mass of supporters of the Turkish referendum (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

In addition, because Erdogan was disillusioned by the inability of the international community to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, he began to call for a comprehensive UN “restructuring and renewal”. After Erdogan left the Davos debate on the Gaza conflict in 2009 with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Erdogan returned to Turkey to be greeted like a hero.

Erdogan has increasingly demonstrated his intolerance to dissent. His authoritarianism was revealed in his response to the Gezi park protests in 2013. The demonstrations, which started in Istanbul before spreading across the country, were met with a brutal state crackdown. A total of 22 demonstrators were killed in the violence and about 5,000 others were arrested.

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Erdogan increasingly made a decision that was deemed controversial after he took office as President of Turkey. It has alienated minorities, such as the Kurds, after escalating military conflict.

Erdogan has also grown bolder on the world stage, arguing with United States President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. The two countries have described Erdogan as enemies trying to undermine Turkey.

Critics may complain Erdogan's version of nationalism is right-wing populists crushing Turkey. But in the eyes of many Turks, he remains the leader of the country's defense, especially the Turkish people who live under poverty.

"He stands by the side of the poor, people who have been hit by fate," said tea farmer Dilek Karaca, when interviewed by The Guardian. "Our hearts are with him. The most important thing is that he remains strong to protect Turkey. "

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