Caitlin August

Kyle Sandoval
Shinea Towner
Victoria Rielly
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan
1. Within history, there have been strained relations and turbulence between Turkey and
Iraq. Turkey has strategic economic importance because it is a part of the European economic
community. The goal of this was to create economic integration between various countries within
Europe. Turkey was never a colony. After World War 1, the Allies wanted to colonize Turkey, but
ended up losing the Turkish war of Independence. Tayyip Erdogan is arguably the most influential
leader of Turkey. He was prime minister of Turkey for eleven years and is now president. He
started his leadership with a moderate stance but is now more conservative.
2. Erdogan was elected Mayor of Istanbul in 1994. He received a political ban and 10
months in prison after reciting a religiously discriminatory poem in 1998. In 2001, he founded the
Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi (AKP. In English it is called the Justice and Development Party). Its
root beginnings is in Islam but it is a formally secular party in order to seem like it is in favor. The
party is the largest in parliament. The reason the party came to power because of economic
liberalism and social conservatism. Turkey was facing an economic crisis in 2001 and the AKP
advocated for reform which would solve the financial problems. They also appealed to the
population that wanted to keep the old traditions of Islam. Because of these factors, the AKP
gained a majority space in parliament and Abdullah Gul (a cofounder of the AKP) was elected
Prime Minister in 2002. For technical reasons, the results of the general election in Siirt were
nullified. At this point, Erdogan had been relieved of his political ban and was able to run. The
AKP listed him as their new candidate and he won the election in 2003. Gul stepped down to
make way for his partys leader.
3. Recently President Erdogan has become increasingly worried about freedom of speech
and power of the media. He claims most of his censorship stems from fear of the Islamic State
using social media to recruit new followers, but at the same time he also states media should
never have been given the liberty to insult. Reporters speculate that this is his way of expressing
displeasure towards the criticism he has been receiving from local news outlets. Both President
Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu are clear about their definition of a free press. To
them it includes the right to criticize the government, but only so long as the criticism is accurate
and does not resort to profanity or insult. (Weisberg). But what constitutes accurate criticism?
Because of this and other actions taken against free internet and media in Turkey, Reporters
Without Borders ranks Turkey #154 out of 180 countries assessed on freedom of press and
speech.
In relation to political parties, Erdogan is head of the Justice and Development party, which in
some media is referred to as an Islamist-oriented organization. It holds the majority of seats in
Parliament and controls a majority of Turkish politics. Erdogan has no need to personally shut
down or silence other political parties because his is already so overwhelmingly large in
comparison.
4. Before Erdogan was president, he was prime minister. He made a lot of improvements to
the country, improved the rights of women, built modern roads and hospitals. But, as time has

passed, and more controversial topics have popped up that could potentially destroy Erdogans
political career, hes turned things around to give himself even more power. He has removed
thousands of police officers, judges, and lawyers from their jobs and even arrested some, who he
believed to be against his beliefs. Though, there has been some benefits to having a thoroughly
religious leader, causing there to be cases of more religious freedom. Such as, lifting the ban on
headscarves in public offices, and the lifting of restrictions on imam-hatip (clerical training)
schools. For the AKP and religious communities, there are increasing benefits like the opening of
hundreds of new private schools and dorms. The cost of this though is increasing discrimination
against those who do not share the beliefs of Erdogan. Remarks such as comparing birth control
to treason, and saying that a womans only position is motherhood have brought up a lot of
controversy. Erdogan is very set in his ways and is only gaining more power as the days go on,
Turkey does not seem to be heading in a good direction.
5. Erdogan technically does not have total control. The president of Turkey must put bills
through parliament to get them passed. However, a majority of parliament is held by Erdogans
party so they generally vote in his favor. While Erdogan was touring Pakistan in 2013, scandals
broke out involving politicians close to him. Most of the allegations involved bribery. A video also
appeared online of Erdogans nephew and bodyguard telling to a police commissioner to abuse
detainees that spoke out against the government. Peaceful protests broke out in 2013 over
Taksim Gezi Park, which is a place of historical significance. The government announced plans to
demolish the park for the purpose of urban development which sparked the protests. As time
passed, the protests became more about Erdogans authoritarianism and corruption. Erdogan
responded my sending riot police to suppress the protests. 11 people were killed, 8,000 were
injured and 3,000 arrests were made. Turkish media has portrayed the protests minimally and
negatively due to being controlled by the AKP.
Similar to the political ways of Machiavelli, Erdogan very much relies on fear to rule Turkey.
Machiavelli believes good laws and good arms constitute the dual foundations of a well-ordered
political system. Similar to Erdogan, they both care more about having a stable political system
rather than gaining respect from the general population of the country. Machiavelli states that it is
better to be feared than loved if its impossible to have both, and from researching and reading on
his past, its clear that Erdogan follows that pattern.

Works Cited:
"Erdogan's counterproductive ambition; Turkish politics." The Economist 1 Sept. 2012:
53(US). Educators Reference Complete. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
"In Dealings With the West, Erdogan Holds All the Cards." The New York Times. Ed.
Janet McBride. The New York Times, 18 Dec. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.
Fisk, Robert. "Has Recep Tayyip Erdogan Gone from Model Middle East 'strongman' to
Tin-pot Dictator?" The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 10 Apr. 2014. Web.
22 Jan. 2015.
Peker, Emre. "Turkey President Erdogan Defends Detentions, Dismisses EU Criticism;
Comments are First Official Remarks since 27 Followers of U.S.-Based Cleric Fethullah Glen
were Detained." Wall Street Journal (Online) Dec 15 2014. ProQuest. Web. 20 Jan. 2015.
Sharkov, Damien. "Turkey's Erdogan Says He Is "Increasingly Against the Internet Every
Day"" Newsweek. Newsweek, 03 Oct. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.
Weisberg, Jacob. "How Turkey Controls the Media Without Lifting a Finger." Slate
Magazine. Slate.com, 09 Oct. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.