Erdogan sworn in as Turkey's all-powerful president
July 9, 2018
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set to hold greater powers than any other Turkish leader has seen in decades. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was among the dozens of world leaders attending the lavish ceremony.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/E. Aydin
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Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially assumed sweeping new powers on Monday, as he was sworn in for his second term as president — complete with most of the powers he had held for a decade as prime minister, plus a few more besides.
Turkey's transition from a parliamentary democracy to a system featuring an all-powerful executive presidency marks the country's largest shift in governance since the Turkish republic was founded out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire almost a century ago.
Under the new presidential post, Erdogan will have sweeping powers over Turkey's judiciary, as well as the ability to rule by decree.
The Day – More Power to the President
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"As president, I swear upon my honor and integrity, before the great Turkish nation and history, to work with all my power to protect and exalt the glory and honor of the Republic of Turkey and fulfill the duties I have taken on with impartiality," Erdogan said as he took his oath during a special parliamentary session in Ankara.
After the swearing-in, Erdogan visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern, secular Turkish republic. Upon the president's arrival, soldiers fired a 101-gun salute as he entered the presidential complex.
By Monday evening, Erdogan is set to hold a grandiose ceremony at the presidential palace attended by some 10,000 guests.
Erdogan narrowly won a referendum last year pushing for greater presidential powers. That referendum success was followed with a hard-fought election win last month, in which Erdogan narrowly won around 52.5 percent of the vote and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) secured a parliamentary majority through its alliance with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
"Turkey is entering a new era with the presidential oath ceremony on Monday," Erdogan told his ruling AK Party at the weekend. "With the power granted to us by the new presidential system, we will get quicker and stronger results."
Erdogan's new powers have polarized public opinion, with his supporters seeing them as just reward for a leader who has reintroduced Islamist values into Turkish public life, championed the working class and overseen a vast expansion in infrastructure.
Opponents, however, say the new powers mark the creation of a one-man regime and drive Turkey increasingly further away from democracy and free speech— not least after two years of state-of-emergency rule following what Erdogan insists was a failed coup attempt.
Election splits Turkish society
02:35
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Foreign leaders salute Erdogan
Several foreign leaders were set to attend Monday's inauguration. They included leaders from Ankara's allies in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, although relatively few EU figures.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was set to attend on behalf of the German government. According to a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, it was usual for the government to send to a former leader to such an inauguration ceremony.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will also attend, in a sign of the warming ties between Ankara and Moscow.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, regarded with disdain by Washington but as an ally by Erdogan, was also set to attend. Maduro posted a video on Twitter, appearing to show him on his way to the airport, in which he hailed the Turkish president as a "friend of Venezuela and leader of the new multi-polar world."
Pressure to postpone inauguration
Erdogan, however, was under pressure by several opposition lawmakers to postpone the swearing in ceremony, after a deadly train accident earlier on Monday in Turkey's north-western Tekirdag province killed 24 and injured more than 300.
"We are in mourning, the entire country is," the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Fatma Kurtulan told reporters. "We think this ceremony needs to be canceled."
Meral Aksener, the chairwoman of the center-right Iyi ("Good") Party, said on Twitter that Erdogan should have postponed the ceremony "out of respect for our nation's sorrow."
Meanwhile, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) presidential candidate Muharrem Ince took to Twitter to slam Erdogan's decision to go ahead with the luxurious ceremony hours after the rail tragedy: "You have the funds to build palaces, but you do not have money to repair railways ... He keeps having grandiose ceremonies with these resources."
Charting Turkey's slide towards authoritarianism
Turkey's shift towards authoritarianism has been over 10 years in the making. However, in the aftermath of the failed 2016 military coup, President Erdogan and the AKP have accelerated their consolidation of power.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O.Weiken
July 2007: Abdullah Gul becomes Turkey's first Islamist president
After years of free market reforms, Turkey's transition slowly begins to reverse. Islamist Abdullah Gul's candidacy as president in 2007 marks a clear shift away from secularist policies, and strains relations between the ruling AKP and the military. However, with broad support from both conservative Muslims and liberals, the AKP wins the parliamentary elections and Gul is elected president.
Image: A.Kisbenede/AFP/GettyImages
September 2010: Constitutional reforms take hold
Then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tables a constitutional reform increasing parliamentary control of the judiciary and army, effectively allowing the government to pick judges and senior military officials. The amendment, which is combined with measures also aimed at protecting child rights and the strengthening of the right to appeal, passed by a wide margin in a public referendum.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Tumer
May 2013: Dissent erupts in Gezi Park
Pent-up anger directed by young people at Erdogan, Gul and the Islamist-rooted AKP hits a boiling point in May 2013. The violent police breakup of a small sit-in aimed at protecting Istanbul's Gezi Park spurs one of the fiercest anti-government protests in years. Eleven people are killed and more than 8,000 injured, before the demonstrations eventually peter out a month later.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca
July 2015: Turkey relaunches crackdown against Kurds
A fragile ceasefire deal between the Turkish government and the Kurdish rebel PKK group breaks under the weight of tensions aggravated by the war in Syria. Military forces resume operations in the mostly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. In early 2016, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) — a breakaway PKK faction — claim responsibility for two bombings in Ankara, each killing 38 people.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/M. Coban
July 2016: Military coup attempt falls short
A military coup attempt against the government shakes Turkey to its core and briefly turns the country into a war zone. Some 260 civilians die in overnight clashes with the army across five major cities. Erdogan, however, rallies supporters and the following morning rebel soldiers are ambushed by thousands of civilians on the Bosporus Bridge. The troops eventually drop their guns and surrender.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T.Bozoglu
July 2016: President Erdogan enacts a state of emergency
In the aftermath of the failed coup, Erdogan announces a state of emergency, leading to arrests of tens of thousands of suspected coup sympathizers and political opponents. Among those detained are military and judiciary officials and elected representatives from the pro-Kurdish HDP party. The purge is later expanded to include civil servants, university officials and teachers.
Image: Reuters/U. Bektas
2016: Crackdown on the press
As part of Erdogan's crackdown against supposed "terrorist sympathizers," Turkey becomes one of the world's leading jailers of journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders. The government shuts down around 110 media outlets in the year following the coup and imprisons more than 100 journalists, including German-Turkish correspondent Deniz Yücel.
Image: Getty Images/S.Gallup
March 2017: AKP officials try to stoke support in Western Europe
With a referendum on expanding Erdogan's presidential powers set for April 2016, AKP officials look to galvanize support among Turks living in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands. However, the Netherlands forbids Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from landing in the country, while Germany opts to cancel two rallies. Erdogan accuses both countries of Nazi-style repression.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/AA/S.Z. Fazlioglu
April 2017: Erdogan clinches referendum vote
Erdogan narrowly wins the referendum vote expanding his power. As a result, Turkey's parliamentary system is abolished in favor of a strong executive presidency. Erdogan is also allowed to remain in power potentially until 2029. However, international election monitors claim that opposition voices were muzzled and that media coverage was dominated by figures from the "yes" campaign.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
June 2018: Election wins secure Erdogan's power
Erdogan secures a new five-year term and sweeping new executive powers after winning landmark elections on June 24. His AKP and their nationalist allies also win a majority in parliament. International observers criticize the vote, saying media coverage and emergency measures gave Erdogan and the AKP an "undue advantage" in the vote.
