BBC This World - Turkey: Empire of Erdogan (2023)

The inside story of Erdogan's astonishing rise to power. With first-hand testimony from former president Abdullah Gul, former prime ministers, deputy PMs, party chiefs, opposition figures, analysts and journalists, this two-part series is a gripping and detailed account of the many battles Erdogan has had to fight along the way.

Chapter 1:
Growing up at a time of chronic political turbulence in Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan joins an Islamist party and becomes hugely popular as mayor of Istanbul. In the 1990s, Turkish politics is bitterly divided on the question 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. He forms an alliance with a 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.

Chapter 2:
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, cleric Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan continues to consolidate power, becoming president and transforming the office from a largely ceremonial role into 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. They fail, and Erdogan then uses emergency powers to crack down even harder on dissent and increase his power further.

On 14 May 2023, Erdogan faces another general election. Polls place Erdogan's ruling alliance and the opposition too close to call, but many believe Erdogan will do anything to stay in power.