Emine Erdoğan

Emine Erdoğan (née Gülbaran) is the current First Lady of Turkey as the wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in that role since 2014. Born in Üsküdar, Istanbul, to a family originating from Siirt, she has supported and led projects focused on education, women and children, social development, humanitarian aid, environmental conservation and zero waste, including campaigns promoting girls' schooling and early childhood education. She has also received international recognition, including the Nishan-e-Pakistan, while attracting controversy over her use of luxury goods. ^{1 2}

Emine Erdoğan was born in Üsküdar, Istanbul, as the fifth child and only daughter of Cemal and Hayriye Gülbaran; her family is originally from Siirt and is of Arab origin. The sources disagree on her birth date: the Arabic article and Wikidata give 21 February 1955, while the English article gives 16 February 1955, and the discrepancy is recorded as it stands. ^{1 2 3}

She was educated at the Istanbul Mithatpaşa Vocational Evening School for Girls but did not graduate. She has been actively involved in social activities since her youth, was among the founding members of the "Idealist Women's Association", which she named herself, and closely followed the events organised by the National Turkish Student Union and the Ladies Foundation for Science and Culture. During this period she met Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and married him. ¹

Erdoğan served as a founding member of the Provincial Women's Branch Administrative Board of the Welfare Party when Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected the Istanbul Provincial Head, and she pioneered an era that paved the way for women's active participation in politics in Turkey. She launched a women's movement which contributed to the success of the Refah Party in the 1994 elections. ¹

After her husband was elected Mayor of Istanbul, she took part in various social responsibility projects. She contributed to the establishment of an aid corridor between different social groups by initiating the "iftar tables where the poor and the rich meet" tradition, which is still carried on by the mayoralties of the Justice and Development Party. She led the foundation of the "Center for Social Development" (TOGEM) in 2005 and has supported projects concerning the education of women and children. ¹

With the wives of the governors from all Turkish provinces, she has led a campaign to improve the living conditions of women, the elderly, veterans and families of martyrs; the project was awarded the "Golden Compass" and has continued under her auspices since 2012. After the attacks against Gaza in 2009, she hosted the wives of Western and Arab leaders and called the whole world to "stop the war"; the Arabic article describes a meeting she convened in Istanbul with Queen Rania of Jordan, Asma al-Assad, Wafaa Sleiman and Aisha Gaddafi, calling for the attacks on Gaza to stop at once. In 2012, Erdoğan personally went to Myanmar to observe the situation despite critical security threats and provided humanitarian aid to the region. She has played an active role in opposing child marriage, stating clearly that "Forced child marriage is clearly unacceptable under any conditions". ^{1 2}

• Voluntary Envoys: the "Voluntary Envoys in Social Development Project", implemented by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies and supported by Erdoğan since 2012, promotes volunteering and tends to the human-resource needs of social development, with subfields such as protective family service and vocational training for women. ¹
• "Come On Girls, Let's Go to School": with the Ministry of National Education and UNICEF, a country-wide campaign to resolve the issue of girls not allowed to go to school by their families, aiming at full schooling and gender equality for primary-school-age girls. The Arabic article reports that tens of thousands of girls were brought to schools thanks to this campaign. ^{1 2}
• "Mothers and Daughters at School": a campaign launched by the Ministry of National Education in 2008, which Erdoğan named herself, targeting young girls and women in poverty who have passed compulsory education age without access to schooling. ¹
• "7 Is Too Late": a campaign of the Mother Child Education Foundation raising awareness of the significance of early childhood education between the ages of 0 and 6. ¹
• Environment: projects under her aegis include "Prolific Forests" (2015) to expand green areas, "I Protect My Future" to raise children's awareness of conserving earth and water resources, and the "African Handicrafts Market and Culture House" supporting African women through profit-free marketing of their handmade products. ¹
• Zero Waste: the project directed by the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning aims to prevent squandering, reduce waste and encourage recycling, and Erdoğan is the first chair of the United Nations Advisory Board of Eminent Persons on Zero Waste, which shares good practices internationally. ¹

On 7 December 2010, Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani conferred the Nishan-e-Pakistan on Emine Erdoğan, in recognition of her efforts for the flood-stricken people of Pakistan; in October 2010 she had visited Pakistan and the flood-hit areas and contributed significantly to the fund-raising campaign for the flood victims. On 16 February 2011, she was presented with the "Prix de la Fondation" by the Crans Montana Forum at a ceremony in Brussels. ¹

This section should be read as a presentation of differing positions reported in the sources, not as the museum's verdict on them.

Her supporters: Supporters see in her education, social and humanitarian campaigns an extension of an influential public presence, crowned by international recognition such as the Nishan-e-Pakistan and her chairing of UN zero-waste initiatives. ¹

Her critics: In 2019, some photos of her appeared holding a Hermès handbag amid calls for a boycott of French goods. She filed suit against a journalist over negative comments related to the luxury bag; in June 2020 a court ordered access blocked to Sözlük webpages focusing on her wearing a Hermès handbag, and an Evrensel journalist had to appear in court accused of not reporting positively on her while criticising her for wearing a $50,000 Hermès bag. In September 2021 she also drew attention for wearing a Chopard watch starting at $35,000. ¹

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Emine Gülbaran married on 4 July 1978 according to the English article and Wikidata — the Arabic article gives 4 February 1978 — and they have four children; the museum does not publish family detail beyond what understanding her work requires. ^{1 2 3}

Emine Erdoğan's public presence extends from women's party work in the 1990s to the platform of First Lady since 2014, and through her education, social and environmental campaigns she has built an international presence with initiatives such as Zero Waste, becoming one of Turkey's most visible public figures in education, women's issues and humanitarian aid. ¹

• The defined sources cited above, recorded in data/source/.
• Later translations and edits of this article require periodic review with clear update dates.