Isaias Afwerki

president of Eritrea since 1993

AI overview

Isaias Afwerki is the president of Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa, and has held this position since 1993. He matters because as Eritrea's long-serving leader, his decisions shape the country's government, foreign relations, and domestic policies.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Isaias
Gender: male
Citizenship: Eritrea
Place of birth: Asmara
Occupation: president
Position held: President of Eritrea
Educated at: Addis Ababa University
Political party: People's Front for Democracy and Justice
Religion: Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Award: Order of the Republic of Serbia
Conflict: Djiboutian–Eritrean border conflict
Image: Ambassador Nura Abba Rimi & President Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea (cropped).jpg

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date of birth: 1946-02-02
Commons category: Isaias Afwerki
P10632: Isaias Afwerki
name in native language: ኢሳይያስ ኣፈወርቂ

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Encyclopedic overview

Isaias Afwerki (Tigrinya: ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ, pronounced [isajas afwɐrkʼi] ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and dictator who has served as the president of Eritrea since its independence in 1993 and the chairman of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) since 1994.

Isaias joined the pro-independence Eritrean Liberation Front in 1966 and quickly rose through the ranks to become its leader in 1970, before defecting to form the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF). Having consolidated power within this group, he led pro-independence forces to victory on 24 May 1991, ending the 30-year-old war for independence from Ethiopia, before being elected president of the newly founded country of Eritrea two years later.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Isaias Afwerki” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.