Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has led Turkey since becoming prime minister in 2003 and president in 2014, winning multiple competitive elections along the way. A 2017 constitutional referendum, narrowly approved, converted Turkey's system from parliamentary to presidential, substantially expanding his executive powers. The V-Dem Institute and Freedom House both cite Turkey as a clear case of democratic backsliding, pointing to mass jailing of journalists, judges, and opposition politicians following a failed 2016 coup attempt, and the 2019 removal of several democratically elected opposition mayors from office.

Erdoğan's most prominent domestic challenger, Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arrested on corruption charges in 2025 that his supporters characterized as politically motivated, drawing large protests. Despite these concerns, Erdoğan continues to win elections that international observers generally regard as competitive, if conducted on an uneven playing field favoring the incumbent.