Erdoğan centralizes power and reshapes Turkish political economy

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has transformed the Turkish political landscape by centralizing executive power and reshaping the country's political economy. While Erdoğan rose to power promising to end the era of secular state tutelage—where unelected institutions controlled religious expression—critics argue he has replaced old forms of tutelage with a personalized version of authority.

Following the attempted coup on July 15, 2016, the consolidation of power accelerated. This period saw the intertwining of executive authority with national security, public employment, government contracts, and welfare distribution. The resulting system has seen the prosecution of opposition figures, the judicial takeover of the CHP, and mass operations against various religious and political groups, including the Gülen movement.