His father said, no. You have to go and study at this Religious School i and you have to be a good boy. So, a completely authoritarian. Figure who shaped erdogans life away from what erdogan had wanted to become. Erdogans family were religious but modern turkey had largely been ruled by the Secular Elite. So, the Young Erdogan was made to feel like a Second Class Citizen for his faith. He felt stigmatised i that he was studying at a Religious School. So, i think at every stage in his upbringing, as a teenager and in his earlyl years, in his 20s, erdogan felt profoundly othered in a society that was formally secularist,. And i think he has a grudge against the system to this day. When he was growing up, i he was exposed to wealth and privilege, and he realised that people who had economic power. Were also people who promoted the idea of a secular society. They chant in turkish driven by this sense of injustice, erdogan joins the Islamist NationalSalvation Party in the mid 19705. They chant in turkish many people would tell that turkey is 90 or 80 muslim. In our ids, its written muslim, but we have a secular constitution, so, there has always been, you know. A tension between those two. Byjoining an Islamist Party, erdogan was pitching himself against the Secular Elite whod run the country for decades. Geography is destiny. Turkey looks like a bridge, actually, between east and west europe and asia. So, the identity of turkey has always been pushed between two forces of west and east. The military have always maintained the Balance Of Power between the Islamist Groups looking east and the liberals facing west. In 1961, the army hung the Prime Ministerfor undermining the constitution and moving away from secularism. Turkeys military leaders seem to be in complete control tonight after their pre dawn coup, carried out apparently without bloodshed. In 1980, just as erdogan was starting in politics, the military forced the government out, made thousands of arrests, and shut down all political parties. Erdogan grew up understanding the golden rule of turkish politics. Never cross the military. Three years after the coup, the militaryjunta finally steps aside and allows the political process to resume. The Islamist Party erdogan supported before the coup is reborn as the refah, or Welfare Party. Erdogan started out trying to build his name within istanbul politics and the first time that he ran for election was in the late 19805 and he tried to get a parliamentary seat. Didnt manage to do that. Then his real breakthrough comes in the 1994 local elections here in istanbul. Erdogan promises to represent Working Class religious people in istanbul. 1994, the city wasl literally collapsing. At the time, istanbul had no significant metro or subway network. Even trash was not collected. So, people were Readyjust For a city that was managed well. Erdogan only wins 25 of the vote, but its enough. He becomes the new mayor of istanbul. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a hustler born in a poor district of istanbul, sets to work to fix his broken city. He had an enormous impact on the infrastructure the city itself. The garbage got picked up. Suddenly, i came one time to istanbul and i got on a bus and i thought, whoa we dont even have these in boston. It was a clean energy busl and it was air conditioned. There were all kinds of repairs that needed to be done. Things were systematised. This was taken during my first interview with Tayyip Erdogan in 1998. I presume i handed my camera to someone across the table i and they took the photo. I was actually very taken by him. It was an informal situation. He sat next to me. This was a thoughtful person who had all the right instincts. As a mayor, recep Tayyip Erdogan has these big projects like tunnels, bridges, airports. It was that time he got involved with the big money, big business. He transforms istanbul. It makes erdogan wildly popular and helps sweep the Welfare Party he transforms istanbul. It makes erdogan wildly popular and helps sweep the Welfare Party to victory in a general election. Soon, theres speculation that the job of mayor is too small for a man like erdogan. That one day hell want the top job. But the military are not happy. They think the welfare Party Erdogan belongs to is trying to bring religion into politics. So, in february1997, they issue an ultimatum against the government. And a few months later, the government resigns. But erdogan doesnt go quietly. He becomes the key speaker at rallies protesting the closure. He calls for change, not by demanding civil unrest but by reading a poem. The poem is from the days of the ottoman empire, praising soldiers going into battle. He became the hero of those people who felt that they were victimised by the secular state. That poem was manifestation of the fact that. I am yourguy. You can follow me. Were going to do this together. And, yes, we are going towards an islamic republic. Erdogans potent use of religious rhetoric as a political rally so alarms the authorities they have him arrested and charged with inciting religious hatred. Eventually, erdogan is forced to resign as istanbuls mayor. Hes banned from Political Office and is later sentenced to ten months in prison. Thousands of supporters turn out to line his route to jail. His Criminal Conviction sparks huge protests in support of erdogan. Chanting many politicians in turkey, they spend their lives in prison, but four months of prison for erdogan was quite profitable. Siren erdogan has gained huge public support. But he has a problem. By law, his conviction disqualifies him from standing as an mp. So, erdogan comes up with an audacious plan. He will form a new party with the hope it will win a majority in the next election and then get parliament to overturn his ban from holding office. They started calling it ak party, which in turkish means white party, but also it means clean. And they were boasting about the fact that they are not from a political class. We are the real people. We are not dirty like them the political elite. Cheering reporter erdogan, the man whos not allowed to become an mp, let alone Prime Minister, is now arguably the most popular politician in turkey. So, if erdogan cant be Prime Minister if his party win, who will be . Someone. Someone . From us. Someone from you . Yes. Yourself . Someone from the party, of course. 0n the campaign trail, he promises to speak for all the different colours of turkey. To the liberals, he was saying the strong hand of military should be removed from politics. To women, he was promising a more prosperous life. And, you know, he was making crowd pleasing promises to everyone. They wanted to believe in someone. People like him who came i of Working Class background, who felt that they didnt get theirfair share in secularist turkey, both politically and economically, they now had a leader to look up to, and that is recep Tayyip Erdogan. I erdogan had this almost moral power for having been imprisoned. That was a badge of honour. So, when these elections took place, it was clear that, although he could not legally be on the ballot, he was the leader of his party. With the support of the opposition, his party votes to change the law, overturning his ban from politics. Erdogan is then elected to parliament in a by election. The leader of the party, abdullah gul, now stands aside. Recep Tayyip Erdogan is finally turkeys Prime Minister. Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Applause under erdogan, turkey boomed. Unemployment and inflation dropped and Living Standards soared. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in very Good Relationship with the Business World and so on. So, he presented himself at the person who would open the way for turkey and bring turkey to the place where she deserves. There was large sympathy for him in brussels, in london, in washington. People in the west, they also looked at turkey and saw a great economic Success Story and they wanted part of that as well. Erdogans party were seen as the best thing since sliced bread. They were islamists, yet moderate and pro western, and that was really unique. Erdogan is hugely popular at home and abroad, but the military are still incredibly influential and if they continue to control the levers of power, then erdogan can neverfeel safe in office. In 2005, the European Union agrees to start negotiations on turkeys membership, but to join the club, turkey is expected to strengthen its democracy. This gives erdogan an excuse to try and take power away from the military. And while the military doesnt like it, they know thatjoining the eu is such a popular idea, they cant stand in the way of it. Applause erdogan decides to confront the military. He nominates abdullah gul to be the countrys president. Cheering but abdullah gul� s wife, hayrunnisa, wears a headscarf. In turkey, so muchl about Political Islam boils down to one issue the headscarf. The military� s memorandum is a clear threat. They will force him out if he pushes ahead with abdullah gul� s appointment. But erdogan did not do what previous leaders had done in turkey. He did not step down. He did not say, oh, sorry, i i didnt mean to offend you. He stood up. You know, he spoke against the militarys tutelage and he basically said, im not going to stand down. Applause erdogan is throwing down a gauntlet to the military, confident that his popularity makes him untouchable. They chant in Turkish Erdogan proved to the whole world that the sky doesnt fall when you dont listen to the military. Hell doesnt freeze over. The military is a paper tiger. That was the beginning of the end | of the militarys power in turkey. | car horns when the Military Backs down, erdogan seizes the moment and calls a snap election. The akp wins in a landslide victory. It was the starting point of Erdogan Turning Into who he is today. The amazing results for akp in that election made him delusional. Erdogan now has a massive mandate from the people but hes still convinced the military will try to get rid of him. To take them on, he decides to exploit turkish peoples fear of what is known as the deep state. The phrase deep state entered the english language from the turkish. I deep state was not just the wayl trump uses it to oppose any kind of bureaucratic resilience. Deep state was actually deep state that did nasty things, mostly using tentacles, whether it be mafia or various far right or Ultra Nationalist groups. And there is a long history of this. It was revealed to most turks in 1996 by a car accident near the town of susurluk. Inside the car where istanbuls deputy chief of police, a beauty queen, a nationalist mp in charge of a private army in the kurdish region and a mafia kingpin. The crash revealed that Government Figures were using the mafia to do its dirty work in a war against kurdish separatists in the southeast of turkey. Now erdogan uses this association to go after his enemies in the military. He enlists the help of a controversial cleric called Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan and gulen got to know each other in the � 90s. Like erdogan, gulen wanted to challenge the Secular Elite and make turkey more islamic. For decades, gulen had run a network of Religious Schools offering tuition to poorer students. Graduates from his schools were then encouraged to getjobs in the police, the army and the judiciary. Erdogan knows he needs allies in the upper ranks of the Security Services and the judiciary. And Fethullah Gulen is looking for a political partner to take on the Secular Elite, so they make a deal. In 2007, tuncay ozkan was working as a journalist investigating the extent to which followers of Fethullah Gulen, or gulenists, had infiltrated all the different branches of government. It was a marriage of convenience. One side had the political charisma and following, the other side had the economic power and also bureaucracy, so, it was the perfect match. Gulen once was an erdogan ally. For almost a decade, gulen helped erdogan build the walls of a republic of fear. Through what is called the ergenekon case. Judges, prosecutors and cops built a court case, alleging that there was a coup plotl against erdogan carried out by the so called deep state. Ergenekon is claimed to be the name of a secret network of Military Officers and judges who were all plotting to get rid of erdogan. In 2007, erdogan set about arresting hundreds of people. Quarrelling voices reporter arriving in court, some of the suspects in an incredible sounding plot. The mass trial of 86 suspects is being held inside this high security prison, where the judge will hear evidence about an alleged Ultra Nationalist gang known as ergenekon. It created an incredibly powerful political atmosphere, especially during the Ergenekon Trials, that you couldnt actually criticise these cases being unlawful. They were unlawful. If you werent part of Fethullah Gulen� s movement, if you werent supporting erdogan, that meant that youre against democracy. That meant that you are supporting a military coup. You are a fascist. Ahmet sik was writing a book about how the Gulen Network gathered intelligence. But before he could finish it, his house was raided and sik was accused of being part of ergenekon. A lot of the witch hunt during the ergenekon case, unfortunately, went even unseen, even in the outside world. The world was so mesmerised by erdogan. You know, this leader who represented the Antidote Tojihadism and alqaeda, and also a leader under whom turkey had finally found economic stability and a leader who was quite an internationalist figure. So, ithink the brand he had at home was that he was i fighting the deep state. Much of the evidence presented in the Ergenekon Trials is now believed to have been made up by gulenists. But nearly 300 members of the military, State Bureaucracy and judiciary were sent to jail and most replaced by gulen� s followers. Erdogan has brought the State Bureaucracy to heel. Now he turns his attention to the media. After 2007, everything began to change. If you criticise akp, youre against democracy, so, people willingly retreated from criticising the party. But then it became really disturbing and the newspapers were shut down, the owners of the Media Outlets were pushed to sell them to the supporters of erdogan, and, finally, there was almost no independent media in turkey. By 2013, the economy had started to falter and turkeys role in the conflict in neighbouring syria was straining international relations. Erdogan had bet on the Assad Regime Falling and was now counting on obamas support for Turkish Military operations in syria. He saw a visit to the us in may that year as of crucial importance. It is a great pleasure to welcome my friend Prime Minister erdogan back to the white house. What actually happened was that. Obama told him that turkey needed to play a role in sorting out isis. A lot of the Foreign Fighters were joining isis by coming through turkey, going across the border. I what would later be known as the jihadi highway. So, erdogan comes back from washington feeling really disgruntled and starting to wonder whether the Obama Administration are. Really his friends. Now, within a few days of him l getting back to turkey, protests kick off in gezi park in istanbul. Gezi park is in the centre of istanbul. You can consider taksim like piccadilly square, or times square in new york. Like, its the centre point of istanbul. The gezi park has always had a very significant. Place in neo turkish history. Ever since his time as mayor, erdogan has planned to demolish the park one of the last green spaces in istanbul, and replace it with a Shopping Mall built in the style of an ottoman barracks. It was a very, very peaceful protest. Police enter the park in the early hours of the morning and use tear gas to force protesters to leave. Gunshots fizzing everyone knew that the police would react, like, harshly, but probably no one was expecting the levels that they escalated it. That created the big escalation, so, from about nearly 5,000 people, the next day it was more than 10,000 people. Like, the place was packed with people. Chanting on the 30th, thats when i sent the notorious tweet of mine. Basically, the matter is notjust gezi park. Havent you realised, my friend . Come. Resistgezipark. Thats the tweet. In the Early Morning of the 31st, this time, a Massive Police raid happened. And this time, people were injured. They fell off the stairs. And that was massive. In the morning, we started to go to Emergency Services to see whether there were any other casualties. And that was massive. Like, people spread all around taksim. Taksim square was now closed. You couldnt go inside. But by this point, the protests are more about erdogan himself than gezi park. It was a protest against erdogan and the mentality that he represents. This totalitarianism, authoritarianism. Yes, turkey was trying to get rid of that leash that is put around her neck by erdogan. Gezi was a 100 reaction to the akps rule in turkey, which, after 2010, started to become even more divisive. It wasnt only about gezi park now. It was about free speech. It was about expressing yourself. At one point i thought it might result in the downfall of the government, but that was a very, very short moment, of course. But that was the time, first and the last time, probably, erdogan was really afraid. He was terrified. I think gezi was the moment where l erdogan threw out any last pretences of being a consensus politician. I think he probably thought that these protests were going to die down on their own. And as soon as he realised that they werent, his tone quickly became. Very harsh, very confrontational. My tweet was then used by pro government media and also the Prime Minister himself. To claim that this was not an innocent environmental protest but it was a civil coup attempt, and my tweet was the proof of that. I he started really playing into this i narrative that people who are maybe getting some kind of support from foreign governments i i he started really playing into this i narrative that people who are maybe getting some kind of support from foreign governments i in order to unsettle turkey, to destabilise turkey. Erdogans handling of gezi revealed that he has no limits. He can tell people to kill people, which happened. Like, you know, civilians killed young, young people during gezi. Erm. I think he revealed his terrifying face. Erdogan continues to insist the gezi park protests were a foreign backed plot to overthrow his government. Theres been no credible evidence to support this. It was a well known thing that he once said, democracy is a train and we have to get on it to get to where we want to go. You ride it until the end and then you get off. I people i spoke to at the time thought that that meant that| you get off and you make it into an islamic state. I rememberthinking its the autocracy. I. That i had seen. Thats got to be it. He gets off the tram and then theres no more democracy. I sunday was another hot day with temperatures peaking at around 32 celsius. That heat and humidity giving rise to some dramatic skies and some thunderstorms kicked off through the afternoon and into the evening. If we take a look back at the rain you can see that we had some storms north in scotland some in Northern England and then this clump of thunderstorms like big organised area that drifted westwards across the midlands towards wales. That drifted westwards across the midlands towards wales. So as we head through monday, really its more of the same, more spells of sunshine, but still the chance for some thunderstorms with that heat and humidity, temperatures to start the day between ten and 17 degrees. So a very warm start to the day. Quite a muggy start for most, a dry start, but a little bit of rain to clear away from parts of wales, maybe some extra cloud in the far south west and a few showers even from the word go and into the afternoon as the sun heats the land while those Big Shower Clouds will bubble up once again, particularly across parts of Southern England into the midlands and wales, some of these thunderstorms could be really quite vicious, with a lot of rain in a short space of time, gusty winds and some hail. Western counties of northern ireland, Southwest Scotland and perhaps more especially the north of scotland, also prone to some of these downpours and thunderstorms. But as ever with these weather set ups, there will be places that fall through the gaps and stay completely dry. Another very, very warm day. Temperatures widely the mid to high 20s somewhere could again get to 30 degrees. We will continue to see some big showers and thunderstorms in places during monday evening. Many of them fading, though, overnight into tuesday. Well see some areas of low cloud around some of these western coast. It is another pretty warm night in prospect. And then for tuesday, well, the greatest chance for showers will be found across the western side of the uk. Further east, not as many showers, more dry weather, plenty of sunshine. Still feeling very warm indeed. Highest temperatures at this stage, likely to be down towards the south, up to around 29, possibly 30 degrees for parts of central Southern England. As we look deeper into the week, High Pressure remains firmly in charge. But as you pick up more of an easterly breeze, well, temperatures will drop backjust a little. Still, though, feeling very warm indeed. Mostly dry with some sunshine. Welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, im monica miller. The headlines. The former first minster of scotland, nicola sturgeon, says her arrest was a shock, and she is innocent of any wrongdoing. Mrs sturgeon has been released, without charge