With roots in Rize, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was born in Istanbul on February 26, 1954. He graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale Primary School in 1965 and completed his high school education at Istanbul Imam Hatip School (Religious Vocational High School) in 1973. Having succeeded in the necessary examinations for additional courses, Mr. Erdoğan received a diploma from Eyüp High School as well. He received his graduation diploma from Marmara University’s Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in 1981.

Since his youth, Mr. Erdoğan has chosen to lead a social life intertwined with politics. From 1969 to 1982, he was also actively interested in football which taught him the significance of team work and spirit in his younger years. 
  
Assuming active responsibilities at the students’ branch of the National Turkish Students’ Association during his high school and university years, Mr. Erdoğan was elected the Head of the MSP Beyoğlu Youth Branch in 1976 and he was also elected the Head of the MSP İstanbul Youth Branch in the same year.

Mr. Erdoğan returned to political activities with the Welfare Party, established in 1983, and he was elected the Beyoğlu District Head of the Welfare Party in 1984. In 1985, he was elected the İstanbul Provincial Head of the Welfare Party and in the same year, he became a member of the Central Executive Board of the Welfare Party. Developing a new organizational structure that served as a model for other political parties during his tenure as Istanbul Provincial Head, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan carried out projects that aimed at urging the participation of women and youth in politics, thus taking important steps toward helping politics to be espoused and respected among the masses. This project won the Welfare Party great success during the mayoral elections in Beyoğlu in 1989, serving as a good example for others in terms of studies at the party across the country.

As for the local elections held on March 27, 1994, Mr. Erdoğan was elected Mayor of Metropolitan İstanbul. During his term in office as Mayor, he produced correct diagnoses and solutions to the chronic problems of İstanbul, one of the world’s most important metropolitan cities through his political abilities, successful management of human resources and financial issues. New water pipelines, modern ecological systems, lighting, communal services, bridges, crossings, and asphalt roads have been laid, and hundreds of important facilities have been constructed.

Taking very stringent precautions for the correct exertion of the municipal resources and to prevent corruption, Mr. Erdoğan paid most of the debts of the İstanbul Municipality which he took over with its 2 billion dollars debt and during his tenure achieved investments worth 4 billion dollars. Mr. Erdoğan, thus, accomplished a breakthrough in municipal history and while his works served as good examples for other mayors, he won the confidence of the people.

On December 12, 1997, while addressing the public in Siirt, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan read a poem from a book, which was recommended by the National Education Ministry and published by a state agency, and after that, he was sentenced to imprisonment for reading that poem. Thus, his term as mayor was ended.

Mr. Erdoğan, after serving 4 months in prison, established the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on August 14, 2001, with his friends as a result of the insistent demand from the public and the developing democratic process and he was elected Founding General Chair of the AK Party by the Council of Founders. The favor of the nation made the AK Party a political movement that enjoyed the broadest public support in the country in the very first year of its establishment and made it the sole ruling party with a two-thirds majority at the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye at the end of the parliamentary elections held in 2002. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose candidacy was not accepted due to various bureaucratic obstacles in the first round of the elections, was elected as a member of parliament in the re-elections held in Siirt.

Taking over the Prime Minister’s office on March 15, 2003, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan implemented many reforms of crucial importance in the shortest time with his ideal of a brighter and constantly growing Türkiye. The country made great progress in democratization, transparency and the prevention of corruption. In parallel with this, inflation which had not been overcome and which had adversely affected the country’s economy and the psychology of the people for decades was curbed. The rate of the state’s debt interest was lowered and a considerable increase in the national income per capita was achieved. Many dams, residential units, schools, roads, hospitals and power plants were constructed. The environment of stability established in the country, while moving the internal dynamics, has made Türkiye a pivotal country. Türkiye’s volume of trade and political power have remarkably increased not only in its region but also in the international area. 
 
Elected the 12th President on August 10, 2014, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is also the first President of the Republic of Türkiye elected by popular vote. Winning 52.59% of the votes, he was re-elected President in the Presidential elections, held on June 24, 2018.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, winning 52.18% of the votes, was re-elected President in the second round of the Presidential elections held on May 28, 2023.
 
Today, relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye are developing quite dynamically, and this progress is influenced by the historical closeness between our peoples as well as the political will and strategic steps taken by the leadership of both countries to expand cooperation.
 
Even before becoming Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan enjoyed national respect. The Turkish people regard Erdoğan as a leader who strives to lead the country forward, listens closely to the problems of ordinary people, and tries to solve them, thereby contributing to the increased influence of Türkiye in the world.
     
On June 15, 2021, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a "Shusha Declaration on allied relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Türkiye" in the city of Shusha. 
 
The relations between our countries based on the fundamental principles of "Azerbaijan’s joy is our joy, its sorrow is our sorrow" by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye and "We are one nation, two states" by the National Leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, are being further developed. Today, strengthening and further expanding relations with Türkiye, a reliable strategic partner of Azerbaijan, is a foreign policy priority for Azerbaijan. Rooted in historical ties, brotherhood, and solidarity, the relations between Azerbaijan and Türkiye have been successfully developing in various fields such as political, economic, trade, humanitarian, military, and more. The regular mutual visits of the leaders of both countries play a significant role in advancing cooperation in all areas and yielding positive results.
   

Recommended literature:

1. Nərimanoğlu, Hacı. Rəcəb Tayyib Ərdoğan / H. Nərimanoğlu ; ön sözün müəl.: E. Cansever, Ə. Çərkəzoğlu. - Bakı : Nurlar NPM, 2010. - 228 s.
2. Rəcəb Tayyib Ərdoğan: Türkiyə Respublikasının 12-ci prezidenti /[tərt. G. Natiq ; dizayn R. Alışbəyli]. - Bakı: Qanun, 2021. - 23 s.
3. Babayev, Rəşad Nazim oğlu. Türkün zəfər yolu /[R. N. Babayev (tərtibatçı), N. Şamil qızı ; red. A. Ağaşov ; tərc. A. Aslan. - Bakı: n. y., 2023. - 78 s.