History of Turkey newly formed "Republic of Turkey" as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, and the republic was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923, in the new capital of Ankara. Mustafa Kemal became the republic's first President of Turkey and subsequently introduced many radical reforms with the aim of founding a new secular republic from the remnants of its Ottoman past. The Ottoman fez was abolished, full rights for women politically were established, and new writing system for Turkish based upon the Latin alphabet was created. According to the Law on Family Names, the Turkish parliament presented Mustafa Kemal with the
President of Turkey duties, and responsibilities for the office of the President. The office of the President of Turkey was established with the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923. The President of Turkey is often referred to as the Cumhurbaşkanı, meaning 'President of the People'. Often since 1950, the presidency has been a mostly ceremonial office. However, in a 2017 referendum, the Turkish people narrowly voted to make the presidency an executive post, effective with the 2018 general election. The current office-holder is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has held the office since 28 August 2014. Since 9 July 2018,