Recep Tayyip Erdogan was elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994, the first Islamist to serve in this role. He successfully tackled the city's water shortage, reduced pollution and improved the city's infrastructure. In 1998, however, he was convicted for inciting religious hatred after reciting a poem which included this verse: "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers . . .” He was imprisoned for four months and was forced to resign as mayor.
Erdogan resumed his political career in 2001 when he formed the Justice and Development Party (AKP). In the 2002 parliamentary elections, the AKP won a resounding victory although Erdogan was banned from assuming a political position because of his conviction. A constitutional amendment removed the ban. Erdogan was elected prime minister on March 9, 2003 and he served three terms until 2014.
In 2014, Erdogan became the AKP's presidential candidate. Erdogan won a majority of the vote and took the oath of office on August 28, 2014, becoming Turkey's 12th president. On July 15, 2016, a military coup attempted to oust him from power.
