Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan greets his party members during a meeting at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara August 21, 2014. REUTERS/Burhan Ozbilici/Pool
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Tayyip Erdogan's caustic rhetoric has won him the devotion of Turkey's conservative Islamic heartlands, from his dismissal of political enemies as "worse than leeches" to his comparisons of Israel's actions in Gaza to those of Hitler.
His fiery podium speeches and blunt populism have galvanized core supporters and cemented his rise as modern Turkey's most powerful leader, culminating in his victory this month in the country's first popular election for president.
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