Muhammed Ali Fatih Erbakan (born January 1, 1979,

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

) is a Turkish engineer and politician who is the founder and leader of the New Welfare Party (YRP). A son of

Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later ba ...

, the former

Prime Minister of Turkey The prime minister of the Republic of Turkey (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanı'') was the head of government of the Republic of Turkey from 1920 to 2018, who led a political coalition in the Grand National Assembly of ...

who led the YRP's predecessor, he is the President of the Necmettin Erbakan Foundation.

Early life

Fatih Erbakan was born on 1 January 1979 in Ankara, the capital city of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. He completed his

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

at an İmam Hatip institution and his high school education at Ankara Ayrancı High School. He graduated from

Başkent University Başkent University ( tr, Başkent Üniversitesi) is a private university in Ankara, Turkey. The university was founded on 13 January 1994 by Professor Dr. Mehmet Haberal. The University center is located in Ankara and also has Medical and Resea ...

in the field of

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He went to England to continue his higher education in pursuit of a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

, but returned to Turkey when his mother, Nermin Erbakan, died. He later got his Master's degree from Başkent University. He completed his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in management and organization at the same university.

Political career

Virtue Party and Felicity Party

By 1999, Erbakan was a member of the

Virtue Party Virtue Party ( tr, Fazilet Partisi, FP) was an Islamist political party established on 17 December 1997 in Turkey. It was found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and then banned on 22 June 2001 for violating the secularist articles of ...

. After its dissolution by the

Constitutional Court of Turkey The Constitutional Court of Turkey ( tr, , sometimes abbreviated as ''AYM'') is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the for ...

, the

Felicity Party The Felicity Party ( tr, Saadet Partisi, SP) is an Islamist Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (FP) was banned by the C ...

was founded, which Erbakan joined. He was on the Board of the Headquarters Youth Branch, remaining in the party until the 5th Ordinary Congress in 2014.

New Welfare Party

On November 23, 2018, he founded the Welfare Party (YRP) again and was elected as its Chairman. The Welfare Party Again was organized in 81 provinces and 800 districts in Turkey and its work continues. As YRP Chairman on 17 November 2019, he organized one of the largest congresses in Turkish political history with the participation of 45,000 people. In addition, the first rally was held on February 9, 2020, in the area of Sakarya Democracy Square, as the Jerusalem Rally.

Personal life

Erbakan is fluent in English. He is married and has two children.

References

External links

Felicity Party website: Dr Fatih Erbakan
1979 births Felicity Party politicians Living people Turkish political party founders Başkent University alumni Children of national leaders {{authority control