By Tala Youssef | Staff Writer

As the Turkish general election nears, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan apologizes for the delays in earthquake rescue missions. Angry football fans have called for the president’s resignation. The government has been trying to repress this criticism, by calling on the football clubs to hold games without supporters, or by shutting down Twitter a couple of days after the disaster. 

A few months prior to the earthquake, Türkiye’s political climate witnessed growing popular frustration over the country’s economic downturn. Today, the government is once again being criticized for its inadequate response to the earthquake. Anger has been growing among victims and their families, and among opposition groups. “The grief is slowly giving way to anger,” said the director of operations for ISAR, a German aid organization. The rescue missions took off slower than they should have, and opposition parties are pointing to Erdoğan’s misrule and corruption for the magnitude of the destruction. 

For a country that has supposedly been preparing for a natural disaster since the 1999 İzmit earthquake through tighter regulations, the extent of the destruction raises questions: The disaster exposed the lack of safety of many new buildings and the authorities’ potential negligence of construction standards. Investigations have been initiated against people responsible for the construction of some of the collapsed buildings. 

During one of the first football games after the disaster, Beşkitaş fans threw thousands of stuffed toys onto the pitch, in solidarity with the children affected by the quake. Moreover, fans of another Istanbul club, Fenerbaçhe, chanted against Erdoğan and called for the government’s resignation. Turkish authorities proceeded to announce that their next game would be held without supporters. The sport “of the people” is being prosecuted for letting the people express themselves. 

With the elections only 3 months away, Erdoğan publicly apologized for the delays in rescue missions. The earthquake response will be a key issue in the elections. Opposition parties – who have been contributing to the rescue missions – may stand a good chance of winning. Over the past few

weeks, the President hinted at delaying the upcoming elections because of the current state of emergency. This unconstitutional measure was met with backlash from opposition groups, and Erdoğan finally announced that the elections will take place on their initial date, on the 14th of May 2023. 

As the dominant force in Turkish politics for the past two decades, Erdoğan’s controversial leadership has been the subject of intense scrutiny both domestically and internationally. With the upcoming elections, the future of the region hangs in the balance, rendering it a potential watershed moment for Türkiye and the broader Middle East. It remains to be seen how the political landscape will evolve in the coming months, but one thing is clear: the outcome of these elections could have significant implications for the region’s future trajectory.