TÜRKİYE ORTA ASYA HABER KKUORDİNATÖRÜ

WORLD TURKISH NEWS-WORLD TURKISH NEWS:WORLDPRES FREEDOM HOUS:USA Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Turkish President faces disaster Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://help.ft.com/faq/gifting-and-sharing-an-article/what-is-a-gift-article/. https://www.ft.com/content/c10b3f24-1671-4514-83f7-f6f90d87ea5a?syn-25a6b1a6=1 Last year, as Turkey commemorated the anniversary of the 1999 earthquake that devastated parts of the country, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan praised the government's "urban transformation projects" to protect people from future disasters. "As humans, it is not in our power to prevent disasters; however, it is in our power to take precautions against their devastating effects," he said. Now, the Turkish president is being accused of failing to do just that and faces a massive humanitarian crisis. The worst natural disaster the country has experienced in almost a century has claimed the lives of more than 19,000 people on the Turkish side of the Syrian border. Erdoğan is battling criticism that his government was too slow to deliver aid to the disaster areas and that Türkiye was unprepared. This situation comes at a time when the president, who came to power at the very beginning of the millennium, is running his most challenging re-election campaign to date. "This will be the most important issue in the elections... It's terrible news for Erdoğan," said Berk Esen, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Sabancı University in Istanbul. Born into a working-class family in Istanbul, the 68-year-old Erdoğan began advocating conservative policies from a young age. A staunch football fan, Erdoğan led the youth wing of an Islamic party in his early twenties. He later gained widespread fame when he was elected Mayor of Istanbul in 1994. In 2001, he founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP), choosing an abbreviation meaning "pure," in contrast to the coalition governments riddled with corruption and chaos. The AKP, whose roots lie in the Islamist movement in Türkiye but which positions itself as pro-European and pro-business, won an overwhelming victory in 2002 amid intense criticism from voters who criticized the incumbent government's economic management failures and its handling of the İzmit earthquake. "The 1999 earthquake was one of the reasons why ruling parties not only lost, but were wiped off the map," said Atilla Yeşilada, an analyst at GlobalSource Partners. Known for his powerful oratory and ability to get things done, Erdoğan became prime minister in 2003. While he devoted much of his political energy to fighting the military and other institutions, he also embarked on a massive transformation of the national infrastructure. This transformation accelerated after the global financial crisis, with the influx of cheap money into the country. New hospitals, bridges, highways, and airports were built, increasing Türkiye's prosperity. Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com's Terms of Service and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to purchase additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://help.ft.com/faq/gifting-and-sharing-an-article/what-is-a-gift-article/. https://www.ft.com/content/c10b3f24-1671-4514-83f7-f6f90d87ea5a?syn-25a6b1a6=1 However, the AKP also relaxed tender rules and established a network of business and political connections that awarded lucrative public contracts to its friends in exchange for transforming media outlets into propaganda organs or channeling funds to foundations linked to the Erdoğan family. Repeated amnesties for illegal construction projects encouraged sloppy construction practices. A turning point occurred in 2013 when protests against a plan to build a shopping mall in Istanbul's Gezi Park escalated into a broader movement. Erdoğan unleashed a brutal crackdown, beginning to restrict civil liberties and limit freedom of the press. "Gezi really opened eyes and showed what this man was made of," says Yeşilada. The 2016 coup attempt solidified his shift towards a more authoritarian regime. Since then, Erdoğan has tightened his control over virtually all state institutions. According to political analysts, waves of purges in public service and an emphasis on loyalty rather than merit have further eroded the country's institutions. The consequences of one of the worst natural disasters in the country's history have been laid bare. "This earthquake," says Soli Özel, a professor at Kadir Has University, "is the culmination of 20 years of superficial measures..."