The devastating earthquakes that struck southern Turkey on Feb. 6 spell trouble for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of elections that polls already suggested would be no easy win. Within days, the disaster had reshaped electoral calculations by directly challenging key elements of Erdogan’s narrative claim to leadership.
The importance of civil defense capabilities, so often neglected during quieter times, has become starkly visible in Turkey and Syria in the past two weeks. When confronted with war or natural disasters, a society can only protect survivors if it has the state capacity to organize an effective civil defense effort.
Two earthquakes on Feb. 6 have so far killed more than 35,000 and injured tens of thousands more in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria. But while the disasters were natural, not all of the fallout was: The humanitarian catastrophe caused by the earthquakes has been worsened by corruption, politics and geopolitical rivalries.
