His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan

His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan

 Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey

Erdogan is the prime minister of one of the most pop-ulous and economically developed Muslim-majority countries in the world. Although Turkey has been run according to the ideals of secularism since the end of the Ottoman Empire, the populace is predominantly religious, and primarily Muslim. Erdogan is also the chairman of the ruling AK Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; Justice and Development Party). The name of

AK Party’s official ideology is ‘conservative democracy’, an attempt to create a vision of a Muslim democracy in an aggressively secular country.

A Popular Reformist

The political power that he now has, is in part due to the AK Party's ability to institute political reforms; both to produce major economic growth and also to enfranchise religious Muslim voters. In 2007, the party proposed a popular but controversial bill that called for lifting the ban on Muslim headscarves at universities. However, it is still legally forbidden to wear hijab at Turkish universities.

Despite his party’s Islamic orientation, Erdogan has put increased emphasis on Turkey’s accession to the EU—both in Ankara and Brussels. In fact, the stress on EU accession is partially because of his party’s Islamic orientation, as accession to the EU requires further religious freedom reforms that are sought by Turkey’s Muslim population. He also is lead-ing groundbreaking initiatives to ensure the rights of Turkey’s Kurdish population, and its religious minorities—underlining democratic reform as a core mission of his leadership.

A Mediator

Erdogan is building Turkey's stature on the world stage. He is exerting influence as a regional peacemaker by brokering peace talks between Syria and Israel, and has sought to create a role for Turkey as a bridge between cultures and civilizations. The Alliance of Civilizations initiative of the United Nations—that Erdogan initiated with the Spanish president, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero—has become a key forum for international, intercultural, and interreligious dialogue and cooperation, with a particular emphasis on tensions that exist between the Muslim world and the West.

Good Neighbor Policy

Erdogan has led a new approach in Turkish foreign relations through his adoption of a ‘good neighbor policy’ towards Turkey’s surrounding countries. During Erdogan’s leadership Turkey has focused on building stronger relations with all of its seven land-contiguous neighbors (especially Greece) and also all of those countries bordering the Black Sea (an important trading hub and geopolitically significant area).