Turkey’s Disaster—and Erdogan’s

by admin Wednesday, March 8, 2023 04:24 pm

Turkey’s Disaster—and Erdogan’s

How the Earthquake Could Spell the End of His Rule

By Soner Cagaptay

March 1, 2023

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, February 2023Presidential Press Office / Handout / Reuters

The earthquakes that struck ten southern Turkish provinces on February 6 mark the country’s worst humanitarian disaster in modern history. Bustling cities were leveled, ancient citadels crumbled, and thousands of residential and commercial buildings collapsed. In addition to numerous casualties in neighboring Syria, more than 44,000 people have died in Turkey as of February 24. More than 100,000 people have been injured and millions more are currently homeless. One-sixth of Turkey’s population—more than 13 million people—is thought to have been affected by the earthquakes.

Providing relief to the stricken areas is the Turkish government’s most immediate concern. The disaster, however,

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SONER CAGAPTAY is Beyer Family Fellow and Director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute. He is the author of A Sultan in Autumn: Erdogan Faces Turkey’s Uncontainable Forces.
MORE BY SONER CAGAPTAY

Southeastern Europe Turkey Economics Foreign Aid Environment Politics & Society Humanitarian Intervention Authoritarianism