The Justice and Development Party Vice President announced that their candidate for

2014 Turkish presidential election Presidential elections were held in Turkey on 10 August 2014 in order to elect the 12th President. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected outright with an absolute majority of the vote in the first round, making a scheduled run-off ...

was going to be the Prime Minister and the party leader,

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

. Erdoğan accepted the nomination and ran a 40-day campaign which ended in victory. Erdoğan was elected the 12th President of Turkey and was sworn in on August 28, 2014.

Erdoğan's candidacy

Turkish and international media speculated that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would almost certainly be the AK Party's candidate for the Presidency and on July 1, 2014, at a Justice and Development Party convention, The Party's Vice President

Mehmet Ali Şahin Mehmet Ali Şahin (born 16 September 1950) is a Turkish politician. He was the Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey from 2009 to 2011. He was a member of the parliament for three terms from Istanbul Province and from Antalya Province of the r ...

announced that they decided to nominate the Turkish Prime Minister and party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the upcoming Turkish Presidential Elections.

The Erdoğan logo

After the candidacy was announced, Erdoğan made a speech where the 'Erdoğan Logo' was used for the first time. The logo was criticized because it bore a striking resemblance to the logo that U.S. senator

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

used in his 2008 Presidential Campaign. A tweet from the finance minister,

Mehmet Şimşek Mehmet Şimşek (born 1 January 1967) is a Turkish politician and economist, who has been serving as the List of Finance Ministers of Turkey, Minister of Treasury and Finance since 4 June 2023. He was the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey from 24 ...

, which claimed that the logo has Arabic calligraphy of the

Prophet Muhammad In Islam, Muhammad () is venerated as the Seal of the Prophets who transmitted the Quran, eternal word of God () from the Angels in Islam, angel Gabriel () to humans and jinn. Muslims believe that the Quran, the central religious text of Isl ...

's name also sparked debate over the use of religion in the political campaign.

Other candidates

On June 17, 2014,

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

Leader

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (; born 17 December 1948), also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the Leader of the Republican People's Party, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Lis ...

and

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

Leader

Devlet Bahçeli Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish people, Turkish politician, economist, former Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the Far-right politics, far-right, Ultranationalism, ultranationa ...

announced that they decided to nominate the Secretary-General of the

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC; ; ), formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1969. It consists of Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, 57 member s ...

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu Ekmeleddin Mehmet İhsanoğlu (; born 26 December 1943) is a Turkish chemistry and science history professor, academician, diplomat and politician who was Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) from 2004 to 2014. He i ...

. And on June 30, Peoples' Democratic Party officially nominated their co-leader,

Selahattin Demirtaş Selahattin Demirtaş (born 10 April 1973) is a Kurdish politician, lawyer and author. He was the co-leader of the left-wing pro- Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), serving alongside Figen Yüksekdağ from 2014 to 2018. Selahattin Demirt ...

Erdoğan campaign (2 June – 9 August 2014)

The campaigns of all three candidates centred mainly on the

2014 Israel–Gaza conflict The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (, ), and Battle of the Withered Grain (), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that has been governed by Hamas since ...

, the peace process with PKK rebels, the

Gezi Park protests A wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Turkey began on 28 May 2013, initially to contest the urban development plan for Istanbul's Gezi Park. The protests were sparked by outrage at the violent eviction of a sit-in at the park protesting ...

and 17 December 2013 government corruption scandal. Erdoğan's campaign has been dominated by electoral rallies, beginning in Samsun on 5 July and then moving to

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

, mimicking

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

's route which he took at the start of the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

. His rally speeches mainly centred on his achievements as Prime Minister and also contained frequent attacks on both the opposition as well as

Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...

, the leader of the Hizmet Movement living in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. During his

Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

rally on 21 July, he accused Gülen of not speaking out on behalf of the Palestinians in

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

and accused Israel of "following in the footsteps of Hitler". During his Kahramanmaraş rally on 1 August, he claimed that the opposition CHP was supporting

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

during the Gaza crisis. During his electoral rally in

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

, Erdoğan attacked his rival Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu for allegedly mistaking the Independence March, the Turkish National Anthem, for a poem composed for the fallen soldiers at

Çanakkale Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.Kahramanmaraş Kahramanmaraş (), historically Marash (; ) and Germanicea (), is a city in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey and the administrative centre of Kahramanmaraş Province, Kahramanmaraş province. After 1973, Maraş was ...

rally on 1 August, he showed the crowd a video of İhsanoğlu misreading the Independence March. Religion was a continual theme throughout the campaign, specifically to attract devout followers. In addition to his electoral rallies, AK Party activists have also launched a door-to-door operation in order to gather support by delivering food, clothing and other items to families. According to the OSCE, the Erdoğan campaign has also organised iftar tents during the month of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

and has distributed toys and women's scarves at electoral rallies. On 15 July 2014, the government began a huge distribution of free coal to families in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

Slogans

The main slogans of the campaign were: "Milletin Adamı Erdoğan" (People's Man Erdoğan) and Türkiye'nin Gücüne Güç Kat!" (Bring Strength to Turkey!)

Donations

On 9 August, it was announced that the three candidates' campaigns had received the following amount in donations.

Election

Erdoğan was elected the 12th President of Turkey by a majority of the popular votes. He was sworn into office on August 28.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Recep Tayyip Erdogan presidential campaign, 2014 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 2014 elections in Turkey Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan controversies