Turkish PM Erdogan Named “European of the Year”

Belgium’s European Voice announced the winner late Tuesday, November 30, at a black-tie dinner, saying Erdogan was singled out for his recent reforms introduced by his ruling party to pave the way for a seat in the expanding 25-nation European Parliament, the EU Observer website reported Wednesday, December 1.

The Turkish parliament adopted last month a far-reaching overhaul of the country’s 78-year-old penal code, clearing a major obstacle to accession talks with the euro-bloc.

The award comes just over two weeks before EU leaders meet to decide whether Turkey should be given a date to commence membership talks.

The European Commission on October 6 gave Turkey a green light to start talks to join the EU, but set a series of tough conditions warning there was no guarantee of success.

Turkey, an official candidate since 1999, has been waiting to join the bloc for decades but its efforts have stumbled over its civil rights record.

Titles of the Year

The weekly said Ireland’s Prime Minister Bertie Ahern was voted “Statesman of the Year” for completing negotiations on the EU constitution while Member of the European Commission Günter Verheugen, from Germany, was declared “Commissioner of the Year” for his work on enlargement.

Hans-Gert Pöttering, leader of the European People’s Party group in the European Parliament, was voted “MEP of the Year”.

Former Irish health minister Michéal Martin picked up “Campaigner of the Year” for introducing the EU’s first national ban on smoking in bars, pubs and restaurants in Ireland.

Collecting more titles, Ireland’s ambassador to the EU Anne Anderson was awarded “Diplomat of the Year.”

Spanish film-maker Pedro Almodovar received the “Visionary of the Year” award for his films challenging social stereotypes.

In total, 50 nominees were handpicked by a selection committee and the winners were chosen by an on-line poll among readers of the weekly paper.

Erdogan in Brief

Self-made Erdogan, former leader of the Islamic Justice and Development Party (AK), rose from selling toasted bread in the streets of Istanbul to the helm of the political party.

He graduated from a religious high school, then joined the Faculty of Commerce, Marmarah University.

During his early age, he joined the National Safety Party (NSP), led by veteran Islamic leader Necmettin Erbakan, in the early seventies.

In 1985, Erdogan headed the Welfare Party branch in Istanbul. He was nominated twice, within the party’s lists, for parliamentary elections, in 1978 and 1991, but he failed to make it.

In 1994, he was nominated as the head of the Welfare Party and became Istanbul mayor for four years.

He was then sentenced for a one-year jail term for reciting poetry by Islamic poet Mohammad Akef. Erdogan served the sentence and quit the post as Istanbul’s mayor in 1999, a year before his term in office ended.

Erdogan helped solve many problems in Istanbul like the water-shortage issue. He further carried out social services such as providing food aid, money and clothes to the poor and needy during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and in other Islamic occasions.

After the emergence of the modernist wing in the banned Virtue Party in 2001, Erdogan assumed the leadership of the AK. In 2002, the party won a majority representation in the Turkish parliament, even if it only gains 36% of the votes.

He became prime minister on March 14, 2003.