Turkey: Empire of Erdogan

Born at a time when Turkey is ruled by the secular elite, Recep Tayyip Erdogan joins an Islamist party and becomes hugely popular as mayor of Istanbul. But Turkey's constitution forbids the mixing of religion and politics, so when the party Erdogan belongs to is shut down, Erdogan is sent to jail and banned from being an MP for life.

In prison, Erdogan plots an astonishing comeback, creating a new, more moderate party which sweeps to power in 2002. It overturns his ban from politics and makes him prime minister.

In his early years in power, Erdogan transforms Turkey, gaining ever more support at home and abroad. But he knows that to feel safe in power, he needs to deal with the all-powerful military. So he forms an alliance with the cleric Fethullah Gulen, and together they plot to remove hundreds of high ranking officers and judges and replace them with followers of Gulen.

After ten years of Erdogan's rule, a demonstration about plans to redevelop Gezi Park in Istanbul becomes a massive protest movement that threatens to topple his government.

A few months after his brutal crackdown on protestors in Istanbul's Gezi Park, Erdogan faces another challenge to his rule – a corruption scandal. Blaming it on his one-time ally, the cleric Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan continues to consolidate power, becoming president and transforming the office from a largely ceremonial role to a powerful executive position.

But in 2016, just as he is about to remove followers of Fethullah Gulen from the military and the security services, there is a violent coup attempt, with swat teams sent to kill Erdogan. But the attempt fails, and Erdogan then uses emergency powers to crack down even harder on dissent and increase his power further.

In 2023, after Turkey's biggest earthquake in 70 years, Erdogan faces another general election. The polls point to a major loss, but many believe Erdogan will do anything to stay in power.