Türkiye’s elections are over, but it has not yet recovered from the earthquakes

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In the Qur’an, the end of the world brings with it a terrifying earthquake that will shed light – and show the final judgment – all the sins and virtues of mankind. In search of omens, people throughout history have interpreted devastating earthquakes as harbingers of cosmic justice. Turkey has just come out of one of these bouts of magical thinking — which, unfortunately, could have consequences in real life.

Perhaps 60,000 people perished in southern Turkey and northern Syria after the double seismic disaster of February 6, 2023, more than 50,000 on the Turkish side alone. Even as the victims were rescued, pundits drew analogies to an earlier disaster, which hit the north of the country on August 17, 1999, and claimed about 18,000 lives. The government’s incompetent response at the time gave impetus to the rise of a new political force, the Justice and Development Party, which emerged victorious in the 2002 general elections. It has ruled the country ever since. Its leader: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s current president.

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