Emine Erdoğan

In June 2020, a court ordered to block access to the Ekşi Sözluk webpages that focus on Emine Erdoğan wearing an Hermès handbag. In the same month, Evrensel journalist Ender İmrek had to appear in court to face an accusation for not reporting positively on her while criticizing her for wearing a Hermès bag worth $50,000.

On March 21, 2015, on the International Day of Forests, the project "Prolific Forests" (Turkish: Bereket Ormanları) was initiated by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs which aims to expand green areas in Turkey and to make effective use of forests.

With the wives of the governors from all Turkish provinces, she has led a campaign to improve the living conditions of the women, the elderly, the veterans and families of the martyrs. The project, which was awarded the "Golden Compass", the academy award of public relations, in the best public project category, has attracted interest among the projects cited by the United Nations. The project has continued under the auspices Erdoğan since 2012.

"The Voluntary Envoys in Social Development Project" (Turkish: Gönül Elçileri), implemented by the Ministry of Family and Social Policies and supported by Emine Erdoğan, is a social responsibility project focused on raising awareness about and promoting "volunteering", and tending to the human resource needs that will contribute to social development. The venture, running since 2012, has subfields such as “Protective Family Service” and “Vocational Training for Women”.

On 16 February 2011, Emine Erdoğan was presented with the "Prix de la Fondation" by the Crans Montana Forum at a ceremony in Brussels.

On 7 December 2010, Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani conferred the Pakistani Nishan-e-Pakistan on Emine Erdoğan, in recognition of her efforts for the flood-stricken people of Pakistan. In October 2010, Erdoğan visited Pakistan and the flood hit areas to witness the devastation caused by the floods and contributed significantly in the fund-raising campaign to help the country's flood victims.

After the attacks against Gaza in 2009, she hosted the wives of the Western and Arab leaders and called the whole world to "stop the war." In 2012, Erdoğan personally went to Myanmar to observe the situation there despite the critical security threats and provided humanitarian aid to the region.

Erdoğan continued her efforts in education with "Mothers and Daughters at School" campaign (Turkish: Ana-Kız Okuldayız), which she named herself. The campaign, launched by the Ministry of National Education, was initiated in 2008. The target audience of the project are young girls and women who are in poverty from a socio-economic perspective, who have not had access to educational opportunities, and are over the compulsory education age.

Erdoğan led the foundation of the "Center for Social Development" (TOGEM) in 2005 and has supported projects concerning the education of women and children.

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.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Emine Gülbaran married on 4 July 1978. The couple has four children: Ahmet Burak, Necmettin Bilal, Esra, and Sümeyye.

Emine Erdoğan (née Gülbaran; Turkish pronunciation: [emine ˈæɾdoan] née [ɟylbaɾan]; born 16 February 1955) is the current first lady of Turkey, and the wife of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.