Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, born on February 26, 1954, in Kasımpaşa, a working-class neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey, rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential figures in modern Turkish politics. Coming from a family with roots in the Black Sea region, particularly Rize, he grew up in a conservative Muslim household. He began his political career in the 1970s as a youth leader in Islamist organizations and played amateur football before entering formal politics. In 1994, he was elected Mayor of Istanbul under the Welfare Party, where he gained popularity for improving public services but was imprisoned in 1998 for reciting a poem deemed to incite religious hatred, leading to his ban from politics until 2002. This period marked his transformation into a key figure in Turkey's Islamist-conservative movement.

Erdoğan co-founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, which blended moderate Islamism with economic liberalism, and remains its long-standing leader. The AKP's landslide victory in 2002 elections made him Prime Minister in 2003, a position he held until 2014. During this time, Turkey experienced significant economic growth, EU accession reforms, and infrastructure development, but also increasing centralization of power. In 2014, following a constitutional referendum, Erdoğan became Turkey's first directly elected President, consolidating executive authority and shifting the country toward a presidential system. He has served as President of Turkey since 2014 (previously Prime Minister 2003-2014) and won re-election in 2023.

His rule has been characterized by assertive foreign policy in Syria, Libya, and the Caucasus, navigation of Turkey's role in NATO and regional conflicts amid tensions with the West, and domestic policies promoting conservative values while facing accusations of authoritarianism. Under Erdoğan's leadership, Turkey has seen democratic backsliding, including media suppression, crackdowns on opposition following the 2016 coup attempt, erosion of judicial independence, and centralization of power. Critics, including international observers, have condemned his government for human rights abuses, while supporters credit him with elevating Turkey's global stature and economic resilience despite challenges like inflation and the 2023 earthquakes. He is also a vocal critic of the Turkish President and has been subject to a criminal complaint and arrest warrant filed by Turkish authorities, who have designated him a terrorist. Scholars such as Levitsky have used Erdoğan as a comparative case of an elected leader tilting the playing field in Turkey.