Erdoğan’s earthquake response a test for his leadership as elections loom

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hit out at critics on Wednesday while making a rare admission of shortcomings as he responded to rising disquiet over his government’s response to this week’s devastating earthquake.

He also used the visit to the shattered city of Kahramanmaraş, near the epicentre of Monday’s quake, to berate those allegedly taking advantage of the disaster to push their own causes. Such rhetoric laid bare his challenge of maintaining public support during one of the country’s worst natural disasters, just three months before elections that were already set to be his toughest in two decades in power.

“I don’t want you to give the provocateurs an opportunity,” he said as he toured the region ravaged by two major tremors, which killed more than 11,000 people in Turkey and neighbouring Syria. “The media [should] not give them an opportunity . . . Now’s the time for unity, for solidarity.”

Erdoğan oversaw a period of economic prosperity in the early part of his presidency, but he has tilted towards a more authoritarian style since mass protests in 2013 and a coup attempt three years later. In recent years, journalists have been jailed and civil liberties have been curbed as Erdoğan has tightened his grip on state institutions.

May’s presidential and parliamentary elections are one of the few opportunities that his opponents — who for the first time have formed an alliance to take him on — have to change the balance.

In a sign of the tensions, Twitter, a popular medium to vent anti-government frustrations, was disrupted on the day of Erdoğan’s visit to the quake-hit region, according to internet monitor Netblocks.

The president’s popularity was sagging before disaster struck, as the country faced a severe cost of living crisis, which economists say has been inflamed by unconventional economic policies pursued by his government and the central bank.

What happens next depends on how the 68-year-old leader’s response to the deepening crisis is perceived by the voting public. Analysts offer mixed views on whether the tumultuous events will hurt or improve Erdoğan’s election prospects.

“Given the magnitude of the disaster, the response has been swift and fairly robust,” said Emre Peker, Europe director at the Eurasia Group think-tank. “If this level of…