Global Media Earthquake Analysis: Erdogan Faces Backlash
While Turkey was trying to heal the wounds of the earthquake disaster, the British Financial Times, which has been published since 1888, published a story about the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş.
The article by the newspaper’s reporters in Turkey, Adam Samson and Ayla Jean Yackley, used the headline “Erdogan comes under fire as earthquake reveals disorderly building standards in Turkey.” The report said: “While the country’s history of natural disasters is known, the president faces backlash as millions of buildings were amnestied in 2018.”
The Financial Times report included comments on the earthquake.
In the news, the Erdogan government approved 7.4 million applications with the zoning amnesty, and according to the data of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, revenue of TL 24 billion was obtained from the applications at that time. This money was equivalent to $4.2 billion in money from that period. Environmental experts said the zoning amnesty was a move to win the election.
It is claimed that CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also brought this issue to the agenda, adding: “Three months before the critical election, the criticism reveals how big the political problem of the earthquake was for Erdoğan. Erdogan was already facing public criticism for the government’s late arrival in the earthquake zone, its slowness and lack of organization.
REMEMBER ERDOGAN’S WORDS
It was pointed out that the Kahramanmaraş earthquake, which caused damage to many cities and countries, was the most terrible disaster since the 1939 earthquake, and it was stated that according to official data, approximately 13 million buildings did not meet current standards. The Financial Times reported that ahead of the 2019 local elections, President Erdoğan praised the zoning amnesty in Hatay and Kahramanmaraş, saying, “We solved the problems of 205 thousand citizens in Hatay with the zoning amnesty.” It was also noted in the news that Hatay was one of the regions hardest hit by the quake.
The story published in the Financial Times said: “Voters in Turkey will go to the polls in May and this election was predicted to be the most difficult choice for Erdoğan, who has been in power for 20 years. Support for Erdogan had plummeted with the rising cost of living combined with Erdogan’s unconventional economic policies. The opposition has not yet determined a candidate to face him, ”he concluded.