Fatih Erbakan | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the Grand National Assembly | |
| Assumed office 2 June 2023 | |
| Constituency | Istanbul II (2023) |
| Leader of the New Welfare Party | |
| Assumed office 23 November 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Muhammed Ali Fatih Erbakan (1979-01-01)1 January 1979 (age 46) Ankara,Turkey |
| Political party | New Welfare Party (2018–present)[1] |
| Other political affiliations | Virtue Party (1999–2001)[1] Felicity Party (2001–15)[1] |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent | Necmettin Erbakan (father) |
| Alma mater | Başkent University |
Muhammed Ali Fatih Erbakan (born 1 January 1979, inAnkara) is a Turkish engineer and politician who is the founder and leader of theIslamic fundamentalist[2]New Welfare Party (YRP). A son ofNecmettin Erbakan, the formerPrime Minister of Turkey who led the YRP's predecessor, theWelfare Party, he is the President of theNecmettin Erbakan Foundation.
Fatih Erbakan was born on 1 January 1979 in Ankara, the capital city ofTurkey.[3] He completed hissecondary education at anİmam Hatip institution and his high school education at Ankara Ayrancı High School. He graduated fromBaşkent University in the field ofelectrical engineering. He went to England to continue his higher education in pursuit of aMaster'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 hisdoctorate in management and organization at the same university.[4]
By 1999, Erbakan was a member of theVirtue Party. After its dissolution by theConstitutional Court of Turkey,[5] theFelicity 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]
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 the2023 Turkish presidential election,[1] but later dropped out of the race and endorsed incumbent presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan.[8] In 2025, he announced his candidacy for the2028 Turkish presidential election.[9]
Erbakan isagainst LGBT rights, and has declared that LGBT people are "a perversion banned in every religion".[10] Erbakan also aims to lift a law that protects women and children againstdomestic violence,[11][12] calling it "fascist and feminist".[13] Further he deems 14 year-olds to have reached theage of consent and to be ready for marriage.[14] However, in a program he later appeared on, he said that he said those words for the victims in prison who is married years ago.[15]
He is in favor of spiritual education and opposed to the teaching ofevolution theory in Turkish schools as it would make them either members of theKurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or communists since the PKK also teaches this.[16]
Erbakan was a supporter of theanti-vax movement during theCOVID-19 pandemic in Turkey. He claimedCOVID-19 vaccines could lead to people giving birth to "half-human, half-monkey" children.[17] During the early days on the pandemic, Erbakan suggested that "Zionism could very well be behind the coronavirus."[18]
Erbakan supports closing theKürecik Radar Station, operated byNATO, saying the "intelligence shared with the US and the UK is directly used to protect Israel".[19]
Erbakan is fluent in English. He is married and has two children.[1]