Yahoo – AFP, Fulya Ozerkan with Burcin Gercek in
Ankara, February 16, 2023
When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assumed
sweeping powers in 2018, he swore the state would deliver more under a
centralised system that his critics compare to one-man rule.
Five years on, an agonisingly slow response to a
catastrophic quake has undermined that idea, boosting the opposition's case
in polls planned for May, experts say.
Erdogan has acknowledged "shortcomings" in
the government's handling of Turkey's deadliest disaster of its post-Ottoman
history.
More than 36,000 people have died in Turkey and nearly
3,700 in neighbouring Syria. The toll is expected to keep climbing for days to
come.
Under pressure like at few points in his two-decade
rule, Erdogan blamed obstacles such as freezing temperatures and quake-damaged
airports and roads.
No government in the world could have done better,
Erdogan said.
The opposition counters that the February 6 quake
underlines why Turkey must switch back to a parliamentary system under which
agencies have more freedom to act on their own.
"You have centralisation in all Turkish
institutions, which is reflected in institutions that specifically should not have
it," such as the disaster agency, said Hetav Rojan, a disaster management
expert who follows Turkey closely.
'Critical hours'
Rojan argued that the system, which Erdogan secured
through a constitutional referendum in 2017, had hamstrung disaster response
agencies that need to make snap decisions on their own.
Help took days to arrive in many areas, with
distressed residents forced to use their bare hands to try and pull relatives
from the rubble.
Others were left without water, food or shelter in
freezing temperatures.
Many volunteers who rushed to the region shared on
social media how they were forced to wait for authorisations or how equipment
was slow to arrive.
The government has since dispatched tens of thousands
of soldiers to the scene, reinforcing support for millions of people left
homeless by a 7.8-magnitude quake.
But many are still fuming at the initial delay.
The main opposition leader, who is running
neck-and-neck with Erdogan in opinion polls, has spearheaded the criticism.
"There wasn't any coordination. They were late in
the critical hours," Kemal Kilicdaroglu thundered this week.
"Their incompetence cost the lives of hundreds of
thousands of our citizens."
Unseemly arguments
For example, it was impossible for crane operators --
who offered critical assistance to rescuers -- to be deployed without the
disaster agency's approval.
This cost crucial time, Erdogan's critics say.
Others point to unseemly arguments between state agencies
and independent rescue and relief workers on the ground.
AFP journalists witnessed disputes between volunteers
and AFAD state disaster responders in Elbistan, near the epicentre of a huge
aftershock in Turkey's southeast.
"We started working on this rubble even though
the disaster agency discouraged us from it," a volunteer, who did not wish
to be named for fear of retribution, told AFP.
"When we finally heard the voice of a survivor,
AFAD teams pulled us away and took over our work," he added.
Murat, 48, waiting for news of his loved ones under
the rubble in Kahramanmaras, witnessed similar scenes.
"When miners discovered a person alive under the
rubble, they were pushed away and people who wanted to appear on camera took
their place," he said, also fearing to disclose his last name.
Controlling the narrative
Even a non-profit group run by rock star Haluk Levent,
as well as opposition-run municipalities that sent in their own rescue teams,
have provoked the government's ire.
"The necessary actions will be taken against
anyone that tries to rival the state," threatened Interior Minister
Suleyman Soylu.
"The (ruling party) government and its
institutions are really trying to control the narrative of the current rescue
management," Rojan said.
An advertising campaign, called "disaster of the
century", had been prepared by an agency close to the government, Turkish
media reported.
The aim, critics say, was to convince Turks that any
shortcoming is because of the gigantic size of the disaster -- that no one
could handle such a catastrophe.
In the face of a public outcry, the campaign was
withdrawn.
For Rojan, it's still "too soon" to see if
the government's narrative will work.
"It is definitely a political test for Erdogan
with upcoming elections," he said.
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