| 1923 | Atatürk founds the Turkish Republic | 
              | 1938 | Atatürk dies | 
              | 1950 | Turkey’s first democratic elections | 
              | 1960 | First coup of the republic | 
              | 1971 | Second coup of the republic | 
              | 1980 | Third coup of the republic | 
              | 1994 | Erdoğan becomes mayor of Istanbul | 
              | 1997 | ‘Postmodern coup’ brings down Necmettin Erbakan, Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister | 
              | 1998 | Erdoğan sent to prison for reciting Islamist poem at a rally | 
              | 2002 | November: AKP voted in for the first time | 
              | 2003 | March: Erdoğan becomes prime minister | 
              | 2007 | Abdullah Gül becomes president | 
              | 2011 | Syrian uprising begins | 
              | 2013 | March: Turkey begins peace process with the PKKMay/June: Gezi park protests in TurkeyDecember: Corruption scandal rocks the AKP, crackdown on Fethullah Gülen begins | 
              | 2014 | August: Erdoğan steps down as prime minister and becomes Turkey’s first directly elected president | 
              | 2015 | Refugee crisis brings more than a million people from Turkey to the European UnionJuly: Turkey–PKK ceasefire collapses | 
              | 2016 | March: Turkey and EU sign 6 billion euro refugee dealJuly: Rogue generals launch coup attempt against Erdoğan | 
              | 2017 | April: Erdoğan wins constitutional referendum to change Turkey from parliamentary to presidential system | 
              | 2018 | June: Erdoğan wins presidential elections, triggering constitutional reforms and installing him in the palace until 2023 |