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Erdogan was prime minister of Turkey between 2003 and 2014. Two years earlier, he founded the AKP, which for years has been the country's largest party. He has been president of Turkey since 2014.
The leader signed a decree last week that gives him more power. The post of Prime Minister disappears and the parliament is partially put aside.
Erdogan can now appoint or send ministers without any parliamentary involvement. With his decree, the Turkish president applies various laws that were introduced between 1924 and 2017.
"We, Turkey and the Turkish people, make a fresh start today," he said. "We leave the old system behind us, which in the past has only caused economic and political chaos in our country."
Referendum
The changes are not a surprise; Erdogan had already held a referendum on his plans last year. He won with a slight majority. Especially in the big cities, a large majority of Turks voted against the plans. Most of the voters came from the Central Anatolia region or lived abroad.
The referendum and the results were heavily criticized by observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. According to the European watchdog, the referendum was not fair and many unsigned notes were used
Coup and Urgency
In practice, Erdogan already had the power that he officially registered . After the coup d'etat of the summer of 2016, he announced the state of emergency that gave him the right to limit the fundamental rights of citizens and to govern by decree, without parliamentary intervention . Since then, hundreds of thousands of critical politicians, journalists and scientists have been arrested, detained or sent back.
Reporters zonder Grenzen publishes an annual list analyzing the freedom of the press in the world and described last year as "the largest prison of media professionals in the world".
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