Fatih Erbakan
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Assumed office
2 June 2023
ConstituencyIstanbul II (2023)
Leader of the New Welfare Party
Assumed office
23 November 2018
Preceded byParty established
Personal details
Born
Muhammed Ali Fatih Erbakan

(1979-01-01) 1 January 1979
Ankara, Turkey
Political partyNew Welfare Party (2018–present)[1]
Other political
affiliations		Virtue Party (1999–2001)[1]
Felicity Party (2001–15)[1]
Spouse
Beyza Molu
​
(m. 2003)​
Children2
ParentNecmettin Erbakan (father)
Alma materBaşkent University

Muhammed Ali Fatih Erbakan (born January 1, 1979, Ankara) is a Turkish engineer and politician who is the founder and leader of the Islamic fundamentalist[2] New Welfare Party (YRP). A son of Necmettin Erbakan, the former Prime Minister of Turkey who led the YRP's predecessor, the Welfare Party, 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.[3] He completed his secondary education at an İmam Hatip institution and his high school education at Ankara Ayrancı High School. He graduated from Başkent University in the field of electrical engineering. He went to England to continue his higher education in pursuit of a Master's degree, but returned to Turkey in 2005 when his mother, Nermin Erbakan, died. He later got his Master's degree from Başkent University. He completed his doctorate in management and organization at the same university.[4]

Political career

Virtue Party and Felicity Party

By 1999, Erbakan was a member of the Virtue Party. After its dissolution by the Constitutional Court of Turkey,[5] the Felicity Party 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.[6]

New Welfare Party

On November 23, 2018, he founded the New Welfare Party (YRP) again and was elected as its Chairman.[7] The New Welfare Party 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.

He announced his candidacy for the 2023 Turkish presidential election,[1] but later dropped out of the race and endorsed Erdogan.[8]

Political positions

Erbakan is against LGBT rights, and has declared that LGBT people are "a perversion banned in every religion".[9] Erbakan also aims to lift a law that protects women and children against domestic violence,[10][11] calling it "fascist and feminist".[12] Further he deems 14 year-olds to have reached the age of "sexual maturity" and to be ready for marriage.[13]

Education

He is in favor of spiritual education and opposed to the teaching of evolution theory in Turkish schools as it would make them either members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or communists since the PKK also teaches this.[14]

Covid-19

Erbakan was a supporter of the anti-vax movement during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. He claimed COVID-19 vaccines could lead to people giving birth to "half-human, half-monkey" children.[15] During the early days on the pandemic, Erbakan suggested that "Zionism could very well be behind the coronavirus," an example of the Goebbels Gap.[16]

Personal life

Erbakan is fluent in English. He is married and has two children.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Yeniden Refah Partisi Cumhurbaşkanı adayı Fatih Erbakan kimdir, nereli, kaç yaşında? Necmettin Erbakan'ın oğlu mu?". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 20 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  2. ↑ "The threats and possibilities awaiting the gender-equal democracy in Turkey after the 2023 general elections". The London School of Economics and Political Science. 2023-05-11. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  3. ↑ "Fatih Erbakan kimdir? Yeniden Refah Partisi Genel Başkanı Fatih Erbakan'ın biyografisi". www.ntv.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  4. ↑ "GENEL BAŞKAN DR. FATİH ERBAKAN | Yeniden Refah Partisi". yenidenrefahpartisi.org.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  5. ↑ "Turkey bans Islamic party". 2001-06-22. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  6. ↑ "Muhammed Ali Fatih Erbakan".
  7. ↑ "23 Kasım 2018 Kuruluş | Yeniden Refah Partisi". yenidenrefahpartisi.org.tr (in Turkish). 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  8. ↑ "Yeniden Refah Partisi, Cumhur İttifakı'na katıldı". Sözcü (in Turkish). 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2023-03-24.
  9. ↑ Ensonhaber (2022-11-12). "Fatih Erbakan: İktidara gelince LGBTİ derneklerini kapatacağız". Ensonhaber (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  10. ↑ "Turkey's ruling alliance welcomes Islamist parties with misogynist agendas - Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. 27 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  11. ↑ Aydıntaşbaş, Aslı (2023-04-04). "Letter from Istanbul: Turkey has difficult years ahead". Brookings. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  12. ↑ "Fatih Erbakan'a göre ha faşizm ha feminizm". 2023-03-13. Archived from the original on 2023-03-21.
  13. ↑ "Erdoğan's radical Islamist ally Erbakan deems 14-year-old children suitable for marriage". Gazete Duvar. 2023-06-26. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  14. ↑ "Erdoğan's ally Erbakan argues teaching theory of evolution makes people PKK members". Gazete Duvar. 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  15. ↑ "Fatih Erbakan'dan aşı çıkışı: Yarı insan yarı maymun çocuklar doğurabilirler". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
  16. ↑ "Status of Societal Respect for Religious Freedom". Office of International Religious Freedom. State Department. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
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