Editing Abdullah Gül (section)

==Early life, education and early career==
Gül was born in [[Kayseri]], central [[Anatolia]] on 29 October 1949, the 26th anniversary of the establishment of the modern Turkish nation, also known as [[Republic Day (Turkey)|Republic Day]] in Turkey. His father is Ahmet Hamdi Gül (1926–2017), a retired air force mechanic whilst his mother is Adviye Satoğlu (born 1931).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kurt |first=Süleyman |work=[[Zaman (newspaper)|Zaman]] |title='Cumhur' İkinci Kez Köşk Yolunda |language=tr |url=http://www.zaman.com.tr/webapp-tr/haber.do?haberno=575942 |access-date=29 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184807/http://www.zaman.com.tr/webapp-tr/haber.do?haberno=575942 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/Siyaset/SonDakika.aspx?aType=SonDakika&ArticleID=971644&Kategori=siyaset|access-date=27 December 2008|title=Ergenekon davasında mahkemeler görevini yapacak|work=[[Milliyet]]|date=27 July 2008|language=tr|archive-date=17 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817013722/http://www.milliyet.com.tr/Siyaset/SonDakika.aspx?aType=SonDakika&ArticleID=971644&Kategori=siyaset|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Education===
Gül studied Economics at [[Istanbul University]]. During his graduate education, he spent two years (1976–1978) in London and studied at the [[University of Exeter]] in the United Kingdom. Returning to Turkey in 1978, he became an instructor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Sakarya University while working on his doctoral research on Turkey's economic relations with other Muslim countries.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last=MacLean|first=Gerald|title=Abdullah Gul and the Making of the New Turkey|publisher=Oneworld|year=2014|isbn=9781780745626|location=London|pages=92}}</ref> He received his PhD from Istanbul University in 1983. Between 1983 and 1991, he worked at the [[Islamic Development Bank]] (IDB) in [[Jeddah, Saudi Arabia]]. He was conferred an honorary PhD degree from [[Amity University, Noida]] on 8 February 2009, and a [[Doctor of Laws|LL.D]] from the [[University of Dhaka]] on 13 February 2010.<ref>{{cite news |title=Doctor of Laws degree conferred on Abdullah Gül |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=22187 |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=13 February 2010 |access-date=7 January 2011 |archive-date=19 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919015256/http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=22187 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Entry into politics===
Gül became acquainted with politics early during his high school years. During his university education, he became a member of the [[Islamist]]-[[Turkish nationalism|nationalist]] ''Millî Türk Talebe Birliği'' (National Turkish Students' Union) in the line of [[Necip Fazıl Kısakürek|Necip Fazıl]]'s ''Büyük Doğu'' (''Grand Orient'') current.<ref>{{Cite news|work=World Bulletin |language=tr |title=Abdullah Gul's Unknown Sides/Exclusive |url=http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=8888 |access-date=31 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929181612/http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=8888 |archive-date=29 September 2007 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

He was elected a member of the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Turkish parliament]] for the ''Refah Partisi'' (RP, "the [[Welfare Party]]") from the [[Kayseri (electoral district)|Kayseri electoral district]] in 1991 and 1995. During these years, he made statements about the political system of Turkey that was designed by [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]] and the [[Turkish National Movement]], which included "This is the end of the republican period" and "The secular system has failed and we definitely want to change it".<ref>{{Cite news|work=[[Milliyet]]|title=Cumhuriyet bitmiş|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/04/27/yazar/asik.html|access-date=25 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823181940/http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2007/04/27/yazar/asik.html|archive-date=23 August 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> These statements caused controversy when his candidacy for the 2007 presidential election was announced by Prime Minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]].<ref>{{Cite news|work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |language=tr |title=Abdullah Gül: The Man Who Would be Turkey's President |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2745136,00.html |access-date=28 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823073451/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0%2C2144%2C2745136%2C00.html |archive-date=23 August 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1999, he kept his seat as a member of the ''Fazilet Partisi'' (FP, "the [[Virtue Party]]") which was subsequently outlawed by the Constitutional Court for its violation of the Constitution.  Its predecessor, the ''Refah Partisi'', was also outlawed by the Constitutional Court for its violation of the Constitution, especially the principle of secularism. By this time, Gül had apparently moderated his views and was reportedly considered to be part of the Virtue Party's reformist faction. Since 1993 in Ankara, he had been organizing an informal think-tank  involving a group of Refah politicians who were discontented with the leadership of Necmettin Erbakan: these included Melih Gökçek, Bülent Arınç, Abdüllatif Şener, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Beşir Atalay. In August 2001, this group founded the ''Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi'' ([[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|Justice and Development Party]]), a party which billed itself as a moderate conservative party in the European tradition.<ref>MacLean, ''Abdullah Gu''l, pp. 176-201.</ref> He was elected once again to represent Kayseri in 2002.<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.tr/sayin-abdullah-gul.en.mfa Abdullah Gül's historic profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229232111/http://www.mfa.gov.tr/sayin-abdullah-gul.en.mfa |date=29 December 2017 }}, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (24 March 2014); retrieved 25 March 2014.</ref>

An interview he gave in 2002 summarizes his criticisms of the ''Refah Partisi'' under the leadership of Necmettin Erbakan and his portrayal of the AKP as a moderate party:<blockquote>In the Welfare Party, there were groups demanding sharia rule. Welfare did not represent the local values we are now cultivating. The ideology of the party was partially shaped by alien imports. [He was referring to the impact of the Islamist ideology of the Iranian Revolution and Arab states on Welfare's ideology.] Our vision was at odds with the rest of the party. The despotic rule of Erbakan Hoca made it impossible for us to realize our vision under the rubric of the National View. We believe that modernization and being Muslim complement each other. We accept the modern values of liberalism, human rights, and market economy.<ref>Güneş Murat Tezcür, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Oc8qytMishIC&q=abdullah+gul&pg=PR3 ''Muslim Reformers in Iran and Turkey: The Paradox of Moderation''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019204636/https://books.google.com/books?id=Oc8qytMishIC&pg=PR3&dq=tezcur+muslim+reformers&hl=en&sa=X&ei=T4huUqyHGcS72wW6rIDQCA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=abdullah%20gul&f=false |date=19 October 2017 }}, Austin: University of Texas Press, 2010, p. 157.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref></blockquote>