February 21, 2023 | The Dispatch
Earthquake Undermines Erdoğan’s Reelection Strategy
The Turkish president’s response shows how out of touch he is with the scale of the event.
February 21, 2023 | The Dispatch
Earthquake Undermines Erdoğan’s Reelection Strategy
The Turkish president’s response shows how out of touch he is with the scale of the event.
Excerpt
Two weeks have passed since the deadliest series of earthquakes in Turkish history destroyed 10 provinces in the country’s southeast. The death toll could surpass 100,000, and many survivors have lost not just their homes but their livelihoods. Yet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has appeared more concerned about the disaster’s political fallout than aiding its victims.
His politics-first approach ahead of national elections in May has backfired. Now voters are demanding accountability for haphazard rescue and relief operations—as well as the corruption that gave rise to substandard buildings that collapsed in seconds.
Sinan Ciddi is a non-resident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he contributes to FDD’s Turkey Program and Center on Military and Political Power (CMPP). Follow him on Twitter @SinanCiddi. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.