Erdogan belongs to a middle-class family whose origins go back to the Rize Province of the Black Sea. His father used to be a captain who moved to Istanbul with his wife like most middle-class families that migrated from the Anatole villages, to the bigger and most important city in Turkey, looking to earn money. Ahmed, the father, settled in Qasim Basha neighborhood, where Erodogan was born on February 26th, 1954, where he spent the most of his childhood. In 1969, Necmettin Erbakan became an independent member of the Turkish parliament. In the same year, he founded the National Thought Movement, Millî Görüş, which formed the instructions for the Turkish political movements with Islamic background. In 1972, Necmettin Erbakan was back to the political arena again with the National Safety Party, where Erodgan started his political journey as he joined the party as a Secretary-General of the youth branch in Beyoğlu. In 1976, he took the chair in Istanbul till September, 1980, when the army banned all political parties in the country. For Erdogan, Erbakan was the master and used to call him, "My mentor!" especially after Erdogan got in to the National Safety Party. Erbakan had an emotional authority not only for being his leader in the party which was quite the same till the end. Erdogan describes such relationship, "During getting involved in the political life, Erbakan was a role model when it comes to his enthusiasm and love for his cause and during trying to get ahead, he has got my back and thanks to him, I managed to move forward." Upon the return of the political life in Turkey, Erdogan came back to the front with founding the Welfare Party, in 1983. But he assumed a party chair in Istanbul in 1985. On March 27th, 1994, Erdogan came across a life-changing event in his life when he was appointed the city hall chairman in Istanbul in his forties. Conflict with Erbakan: Despite being the prodigious pupil for Erbakan, Erdogan turned to acquit himself from the affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood and detached himself from his mentor to found Justice and Development Party (AKP), which showed great prospects. America planned to let Erdogan's start shine while nominating his friend, Abdullah Jul to run against Qutan to chair the Virtue Party, which he lost by a small margin. The Virtue Party had 158 representatives and Erdogan's pragmatism was sweeping, forgetting how to apply the Islamic Sharia and did not mention anything but hijab. All indications showed that before going independent off of Erbakan. As Erdogan becomes the city hall chairman of Istanbul. Brothels prospered in his era, which is the same route he took as a Prime Minister as power was all what he cared about. Erdogan offered pragmatic compromises as Jul said, "Our Islamic culture has collapsed and we have to change our values according to the new reality." For the economic file, where the party said it will be of an utmost importance, we will notice that the party adopted an economic policy based on the full involvement of Turkey with the global economy. Erdogan said that Turkey joining of the European Union is a necessary goal and by applying the International Monetary Fund's program, it shall get easier. Turkish journalist Rican Cakir says, "Erdogan's problem was that there are those who confirm he is playing the saint." The party made use of the economic and political crisis witnessed by the Turks. Despite the economic expansion that Turkey witnessed in the last decade, the financial crisis that took Turkey by surprise last year downed wages to 50% and millions got to be paid $90 dollars a month. The financial crisis also led to the bankruptcy of thousands of companies and losing 500,000 employment opportunities. Due to the increase of strategic importance of Turkey following the bombings in Washington, New York and Paris, The United States urged the International Monetary Fund to offer loans worth $16 billion. Erdogan also polarized the poor in his country while claiming to be pro-religion and secularism at the same time. Alliance of Erdogan and Colin: Erdogan collaborated with preacher Mohamed Fath Allah Julan, who voiced the idea of social Islam between 2001-2011. The AKP supported the development programs and reform directions as well as finding solutions for the social and economic issues in Turkey. The party managed to succeed in major cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, using its programs and developmental achievements, along with infrastructural projects, and grants. Julan was born April 27th, 1941, in a small village and grew up in a religious family. Erdogan later on turned against his biggest alley, after leaving to the States for no reason. On June 18th, 1999 he spoke to the Turkish television and said what critics thought of as subliminal to Turkish institutions, followed by the attorney general's investigation in what Julan said. Erdogan and Israel: At the beginning of Erdogan's appointment, Erbakan accused his student of being an ally to Israel. Erdogan did not apply the Sharia but allowed homosexuality and gay marriages. Instead of taking his wife to Al-Aqsa Mosque , he took her to the Holocaust site flaunting the volume of economic and military cooperation between the two countries. The two countries are too tight that both forces would hold annual joint maneuvers. Erdogan's pragmatism: Erdogan made use of the European qualification standards and used his individual role in repressing human rights and freedom in an Ottoman move to gain even more economic and political powers and open to the Arab countries which were a part of the Ottoman empire for decades, where he found the market for Turkey to rise. It took a few years following that for several revolutions to erupt, where his ally Mubarak fell in Egypt, and Assad is revolted against, to pave the way for seizing the Muslim Brotherhood advances. Erdogan and the corruption file: Bilal Erdogan, Erdogan's son is the common factor in all the corruption files in Turkey, including ISIS' oil deals. A new scandal was published in all over the Israeli newspapers as Bilal established a youth organization that only benefits himself. Erdogan and the new Ottoman project: Erdogan uses the Muslim Brotherhood to build a new Ottoman empire and movements done by the Turkish government, reaching out to all the Arab countries nearby, leading to prosperous relations between them. For obvious reasons, Turkey is expanding in the Arab region through "general diplomacy" which is an old term yet a strategic plan. Will that work amidst the collaboration between Russia and Egypt? This is what the upcoming months will tell us.
