| 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 PKK May/June: Gezi park protests in Turkey December: 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 Union July: Turkey–PKK ceasefire collapses |
| 2016 | March: Turkey and EU sign 6 billion euro refugee deal July: 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 |