How Erdo an went from populist hero to strongman and transformed Turkey along the way

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo an has held onto power in Turkey by navigating crises at home and abroad.

During his tenures as prime minister and president, he has changed Turkey dramatically, and his efforts to stay in power are likely to have a lasting impact on the country, according to Turkish historian Soner Cagaptay.

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdo an met with US President Trump at the White House on Wednesday. Relations between the two countries have threatened to go off the rails in recent months after Erdo an decided to purchase a Russian missile defense system and then launched a cross-border incursion against America's Kurdish allies.

But so far Erdo an has managed to navigate the crisis. Turkish historian and writer Soner Cagaptay says it's because he's a masterful tactician.

Cagaptay is the author of "Erdogan's Empire: Turkey and the Politics of the Middle East."

He spoke to The World's host Marco Werman about how Erdo an got his start, and how he managed to transform Turkey from a liberal, secular democracy into a more religious, conservative state.Marco Werman: Tell us about Erdo an's rise.

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Soner Cagaptay: Erdo an is a politician who comes from the other side of the tracks. He has long identified with Turkey's pious masses, who, in 20th-century Turkey, felt other people like Erdo an, who wanted to wear religion on their sleeve in this ideologically secular state established by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, felt that they did not have a fair share of the pie.

And Erdo an was advocating for a larger role for these groups in the Turkish public. And he was also not shy about using Islam in politics. That put him on a trajectory of conflict with Turkey's secularist constitution and court, which actually sentenced him to jail. He served a short term that cast him as a hero in the eyes of his adoring supporters.

Werman: In 2003, when Erdo an first became prime minister, he sounded more like a liberal. Didn't he? So how do you understand his transformation and how he changed Turkey?

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Cagaptay: When he first came to power, Erdo an indeed stood for Turkey's dispossessed masses. He had this image as the underdog. Erdo an also delivered quite phenomenal economic growth record, perhaps in Turkey's modern history that he used to lift many of his supporters out of poverty.

When Erdogan came to power, infant mortality rate in Turkey was comparable to pre-war Syria. Now, the infant mortality rate is comparable to Spain, which is why he wins.

But the same popularity that he built has also made him less and less of a liberal. Erdo an started to pay less attention to people who did not agree with him. And what happened is quite ironic.

In the 20th century, Turkey was a country that treated people such as Erdogan, who wanted to wear religion on their sleeve, as second-class citizens. Now in Erdo an's Turkey, Turkey treats people who don't want to wear religion on their sleeve as second-class citizens. So he's turned the tables upside down.

So his trajectory, I argue, has thrown Turkey into a deep political crisis where half of the country supports him and the other half loathes him.

Werman: I know you've been quoted in the past as describing Erdo an as a "doner kebab master." That would be that sliced meat on a plate around all over the world in Turkish-style delis. What do you mean by that?

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Cagaptay: It's meat on a spit. The master takes really thin slices from the spit, almost paper-thin slices, with his sharp knife. And if you don't watch the spit, you really don't see it get small. So I argue that Erdo an's undermining of Turkey's democratic institutions is not a product of the last few years.

In fact, he's been doing this for a very long time. He was very meticulous, as in terms of going after his opponents, cracking down on dissidents, locking up dissidents, as early as the end of the last decade. But because he was very gradual about this, with the precision of a doner kebab master taking really thin slices from his opposition, not going on massive crackdowns, that did not fall onto the radar screen of broader global audiences.

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