The first factor is administrative and is related to the damage to the infrastructure in the regions affected by the earthquake and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of citizens who left their cities and lost their identification documents. [...] The second factor is based on the ruling party’s assessment of the transformations in public opinion following the disaster and will be determined by the people’s evaluation of the preventive measures taken by the government to respond to potential earthquakes and their level of satisfaction to its response to the earthquakes and its management of the crisis. [...] The aftermath of the earthquake shed light on the poor government leadership and the failure of its economic policies and prepared the ground for the victory of the Justice and Development Party in the 2002 elections. [...] ■ Responding to the aftermath of the disaster and the efforts invested in sending basic goods to the afflicted areas may undermine the government’s efforts to control inflation in the short term. [...] The Turkish opposition may be more cautious than in the past when calling for the return of Syrian refugees during the electoral campaign, considering the internal displacement of large numbers of Turkish citizens from the afflicted cities and the exacerbation of human suffering in northern Syria following the earthquake.
- Pages
- 8
- Published in
- Turkey
