RECEP Tayyip Erdogan has won a third presidential term. His dominance of the Turkish political scene for over two decades has been marked both by enviable successes and trying challenges.
He shot into prominence when he was elected mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. As mayor, he introduced high standards of urban good governance in Istanbul, resolving chronic problems of water shortage, pollution and traffic jams. This writer was a regular visitor to Istanbul during the 1990s and witnessed this transformation first hand.
After co-founding the conservative, right-of-centre Justice and Development Party in 2001, Erdogan led it to a landslide victory in 2002, going on to serve two terms as prime minister from 2003 to 2014. During this time, Turkiye’s economy registered high growth rates, and the country emerged as an important regional power. AKP won three consecutive general elections, each time receiving more votes than in the previous poll.