Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, commonly referred by to his initials RTE, is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He also co-founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001.
The Justice and Development Party, abbreviated officially as AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democratic. Third-party sources often refer to the party as national conservative, social conservative, right-wing populist and as espousing neo-Ottomanism. The party is generally regarded as being right-wing on the political spectrum, although some sources have described it as far-right since 2011. It is one of the two major parties of contemporary Turkey along with the Republican People's Party (CHP).
Brewster Jennings & Associates was a front company set up in 1994 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a cover for its officers. The most famous is Valerie Plame, a "covert employee of the CIA" whose then-classified status was published in a syndicated newspaper column by Robert Novak on July 14, 2003. Novak later said that his initial primary source was then-United States Deputy Secretary of State (2001–2005) Richard Armitage, though Armitage disagreed with Novak as to the extent of his role.
The Nationalist Movement Party is a Turkish far-right, ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has been linked to violent paramilitaries and organized crime groups. Its leader is Devlet Bahçeli.
The Plame affair erupted in July 2003, when journalist Robert Novak revealed that Valerie Plame worked as covert employee of the Central Intelligence Agency, although the seeds of the scandal had been laid during 2001 and 2002 as the Bush administration investigated allegations that Iraq had purchased Nigerien uranium.
The Republic of Turkey (Türkiye) and the United States of America established diplomatic relations in 1927. Relations after World War II evolved from the Second Cairo Conference in December 1943 and Turkey's entrance into World War II on the side of the Allies in February 1945. Later that year, Turkey became a charter member of the United Nations. Both countries advanced ties under the Turkey in NATO, G20, OECD, Council of Europe, OSCE, WTO, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, IMF, the World Bank.
Membership in the Council on Foreign Relations comes in two types: Individual and Corporate. Individual memberships are further subdivided into two types: Life Membership and Term Membership, the latter of which is for a single period of five years and is available to those between the ages of 30 and 36 at the time of their application. Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have applied for U.S. citizenship are eligible. A candidate for life membership must be nominated in writing by one Council member and seconded by a minimum of three others.
German–Turkish relations have their beginnings in the times of the Ottoman Empire and they have culminated in the development of strong bonds with many facets that include economic, military, cultural and social relations. With Turkey as a candidate for the European Union, of which Germany is the largest member, and the existence of a significant Turkish diaspora in Germany, these relations have become more and more intertwined over the decades. Relations with Turkey significantly deteriorated after the 2016–17 Turkish purges including the arrest of journalists such as Die Welt's Deniz Yücel. Both countries are members of the Council of Europe and NATO. Germany opposes Turkey's European Union membership.
Haluk Dinçer is a Turkish business executive. He has been Executive Board Member of Sabanci Holding Turkey's leading industrial and financial group, since February 2002, and Financial Services Group President since April 2020.
The Gülen movement, or Hizmet movement, or Fethullah Gülen movement, referred to by its participants as Hizmet ("service") or Cemaat ("community") and since 2016 by the Government of Turkey as FETÖ, is an Islamist fraternal movement led by Fethullah Gülen, a Muslim scholar and preacher who has been living in the United States since 1999. The movement is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, Pakistan, Northern Cyprus, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Owing to the outlawed status of the Gülen movement in Turkey, some observers refer to the movement's Turkish Muslim volunteers as effectively a sub-sect of Sunni Islam; these volunteers generally hold their religious tenets as generically Turkish Sunni Islam.
Richard Lee Armitage is an American former diplomat and government official. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Armitage served as a U.S. Navy officer in three combat tours of duty in the Vietnam War as a riverine warfare advisor. After leaving active duty, he served in a number of civil-service roles under Republican administrations. He worked as an aide to Senator Bob Dole before serving in various posts in the Defense Department and State Department.
General elections were held in Turkey on 12 June 2011 to elect the 550 members of Grand National Assembly. In accordance to the result of the constitutional referendum held in 2007, the elections were held four years after the previous elections in 2007 instead of five.
TÜSİAD, the Turkish Industry and Business Association, is Turkey's top business organization.
Berat Albayrak is a Turkish businessman and politician, and the son-in-law of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He is a former CEO of Çalık Holding. He was a member of parliament from Istanbul in the 25th, 26th and 27th legislative sessions. He served as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources in the 64th and 65th government of Turkey and was the Minister of Finance and Treasury in the 66th government until his unexpected resignation on 8 November 2020 citing health reasons. His resignation was officially accepted on 9 November and he was succeeded by Lütfi Elvan on 10 November. In 2004, he married the daughter of Turkish president Erdoğan. Albayrak has been accused of involvement in oil production and smuggling in the Islamic State.
The 2013 Gezi Park protests in Turkey saw massive amounts of censorship and disinformation by the mainstream media, especially by those supporting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP). A poll done by Istanbul Bilgi University in the first week of the protests showed that 84% of the demonstrators cited the lack of media coverage as a reason to join the protests, higher than the 56% of protesters who referred to the destruction of Gezi Park.
The 2013 corruption scandal in Turkey or 17-25 December Corruption and Bribery Operation was a criminal investigation that involved several key people in the Turkish government. All of the 52 people detained on 17 December were connected in various ways with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Prosecutors accused 14 people – including Suleyman Aslan, the director of state-owned Halkbank, Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, and several family members of cabinet ministers – of bribery, corruption, fraud, money laundering and gold smuggling.
The Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research is a policy think-tank based in Ankara, Turkey. It was established in 2006 with the objective of producing "up-to-date and accurate knowledge and analyses in the fields of politics, economy and society" and informing "policy makers and the public on changing political, economic, social and cultural conditions." Its general coordinator has been Burhanettin Duran since 2014. The group describes itself as independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan, but is described by Deutsche Welle as being controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Kamil Ekim Alptekin is a Turkish businessman with real estate, aerospace, and consulting interests. He is the current Chairman of the Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAİK) and an advocate for improved Turkish-American relations. His payments to Michael T. Flynn for research and lobbying work against the Gülen movement were central to a political controversy in American politics. Alptekin was indicted on December 12, 2018 on charges of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government and making false statements to investigators. These charges were eventually dropped.
The premiership of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began on March 14, 2003, when the first Cabinet headed by Erdoğan was sworn in by the Turkish Parliament.
The Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey, also known as DEİK is a Turkish trade organization established in 1986 aimed at advancing business diplomacies and foreign economic policies of the Turkish private sector.
