Tyrant of the year 2025: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been on the path to authoritarianism since he first came to power more than 20 years ago, but even by his standards 2025 has been a particularly repressive year. In March, Erdoğan had Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the opposition frontrunner for the next presidential election, arrested and jailed in what has been described as a blatantly politically motivated attack.

The Turkish leader is no stranger to such authoritarian tactics, having replaced several elected mayors from opposition parties with government-appointed ones. He’s also targeted activists, journalists and politicians who criticised him with contentious court cases. In the last year, more than 500 people, including 17 mayors, have been detained in opposition-run municipalities around Turkey, but İmamoğlu’s arrest was a major escalation which led to hundreds of thousands of protesters lining the streets of Turkey to condemn the state’s oppressive actions. And what of Erdoğan’s response to the widescale protests? It’s been painfully cliched. He labelled the demonstrations “street terrorism”, banned entire major cities from hosting them and arrested thousands, including an AFP photojournalist. He even managed to anger Elon Musk after his government ordered the blocking of over 100 critical accounts.  

İmamoğlu remains in jail. Last month Turkish prosecutors charged him with 142 offences that could amount to up to 2,430 years behind bars if he is found guilty. His real crime? Running against Erdoğan.

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The closing date is Monday 5 January 2026.

To view the other contenders for Tyrant of the Year, click here.