24 years of Erdogan: Achievements and challenges at 71

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been at the forefront of the country's politics for over two decades, turns 71 on February 26. He served as prime minister from 2003 to 2014 and has been president since 2014. Erdogan has consolidated power both domestically and regionally.

In 2017, he abolished the parliamentary system through a referendum, transforming Turkey into a presidential republic and significantly expanding his powers. Although Turkey has undergone substantial changes under Erdogan's leadership, his policies are often criticized by domestic opposition and the international community. Additionally, Turkey's recent economic problems, including rising inflation (over 50 percent according to the World Bank) and the depreciation of the Turkish lira (1 Turkish lira is worth 0.027 US dollars), have damaged its reputation. This article discusses Erdogan's main political lines.

Erdogan's Emergence on the Political Scene

Education, Politics, and Sports: Born on February 26, 1954, Erdogan grew up on the Black Sea coast before his family moved to Istanbul when he was 13. While studying at an Islamic school, the young Erdogan sold lemonade and sesame cookies to earn money. He later studied at the Faculty of Economics at Marmara University in Istanbul and began his political career in the youth wing of the Islamist National Salvation Party. Erdogan played football from 1969 to 1982 for semi-professional clubs but left the sport to pursue politics.

Istanbul Administration and Imprisonment: Erdogan was elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994 and led the city for the next four years. However, he was arrested and charged with inciting ethnic hatred and conflict over a poem he read in public. The poem included the following lines:

The mosques are our barracks, 

Their domes are our helmets,

The minarets are our spears,

And our faith is our soldiers.

After four months in prison, Erdogan returned to politics.

Party and Prime Ministership: In August 2001, Erdogan founded the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party. The following year, the party won parliamentary elections, and in 2003, Erdogan was appointed prime minister. He served three consecutive terms as prime minister, gaining international recognition.

Presidency: Erdogan was first elected president in 2014 and has been in power ever since. He faced two major setbacks in his early years as president: his party lost a significant portion of its parliamentary seats in the 2015 elections, and shortly thereafter, in 2016, a military coup attempt resulted in the deaths of 300 civilians.

The most recent presidential election was also challenging for him. The devastating earthquake in February 2023, which killed more than 40,000 Turks, damaged Erdogan's reputation, and opposition forces capitalized on this. Despite these challenges, Erdogan managed to secure more votes than the People's Alliance candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu and remained in office. According to the current Turkish constitution, the head of state cannot be elected for more than two consecutive terms. In the elections held in May 2023, Erdogan was re-elected for a second five-year term, which ends in 2028.

Erdogan on the International Stage

The Turkish president has a complex and contradictory international image. He has sought to portray himself as an independent leader, trying to maintain a balance between the West and the East. However, his style of governance, foreign policy, and domestic repression have been met with mixed international reactions.

Relations with the European Union and the United States: Erdogan's relations with the European Union (EU) and the United States have often been tense. The imprisonment of thousands of people and the increase in pressure on freedom of expression since the 2016 military coup have been criticized by the West. Turkey has not achieved its goal of joining the European Union, despite applying for membership in 1987. Peter Stano, a spokesman for the European Commission, said the process "will take years."

Erdogan and the United States:  Erdogan has demanded the US extradite former imam and founder of the Hizmet movement Fethullah Gulen, claiming that he was behind the 2016 military coup. The US did not agree to this, and Gulen lived there until he died in 2024. Furthermore, the rapprochement with Russia, the US's long-standing rival, has greatly upset Washington.

Erdogan and Russia: Erdogan has established close ties with Putin. He has purchased the S-400 defense system from Russia. Russia, in turn, is building Turkey's first nuclear power plant and has become one of its main gas suppliers. Despite its close official ties with Moscow, Turkey has supplied drones to Ukraine and mediated the Black Sea grain deal. This has allowed Erdogan to occupy an important place in the international arena.

Relations with Muslim Countries: Striving to Become a Leader of the Islamic World

Erdogan is trying to portray himself as an Islamic leader in the Middle East and the Muslim world. In the conflicts in the Palestinian territories, he has consistently criticized Israel and the Western countries that support it, calling on the international community to help Palestine. Erdogan began his speeches against Israel earlier, and in 2017, he called the Jewish state "terrorist" and expressed his support for Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

However, despite such "pathetic speeches," Turkey's continued cooperation with Israel has been sharply criticized by the world media. Erdogan also claims to protect the interests of the Muslim world by actively participating in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other structures uniting Muslim countries.

Two Birds with One Stone: Erdogan's Policy in Syria

Erdogan's policy in Syria can be described as complex and multifaceted. From the very beginning, he supported the uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad, the second generation of an autocratic family dynasty that has lasted for more than 50 years. Erdogan has been demanding the resignation of Assad, who is known for his brutal rule during the civil war in Syria that has been ongoing since 2011. Finally, at the end of 2024, the Assad regime was overthrown, and in January 2025, Ahmed al-Shara was declared the country's transitional president.

After that, the Turkish president emphasized that preserving the territorial integrity and unity of Syria is the country's main policy and expressed his readiness to assist the new administration in Damascus in the political, economic, and military spheres. Ahmed al-Shara also flew to Turkey on his second foreign trip and discussed a defense pact that included the establishment of Turkish air bases in Syria. The Turkish government was one of the first to reopen its embassy in Damascus and establish a consulate general in Aleppo in support of the new administration in Syria.

Erdogan was unable to come to an agreement with Assad on the issue of migrants (there were more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees in the country) and other issues, which have recently become a serious problem in Turkey. He needed a "brother" like Ahmed al-Shara, which he finally got. However, information about Ahmed al-Shara's exact views on the Kurds is still not public.

Erdogan is showing enthusiasm for the unification of the Turkic peoples, which has been the subject of frequent discussion recently. He is seen as a supporter of strengthening the activities of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and accelerating the processes. At the same time, he is also trying to maintain a balance with powerful players in the region such as Russia and China.

In short, there are enough supporters and detractors of the policy of the long-time president of Turkey on the world stage. Erdogan, who participated in the municipal elections in March 2024 as a party leader, emphasized that this was his last election.

"I am engaged in my work without stopping, we are running without having time to breathe. For me, this is the end. These elections are the last elections within the scope of my authority permitted by law. The next tasks will be passed on to my brothers who will come after me," he said.

But it is worth noting that Erdogan is currently one of the "key players" both in Turkey and in the region.