After Turkey’s Earthquake Comes the Reckoning. ‘Why Are We Unprepared?’

President Erdogan, who consolidated control over disaster-response institutions, faces rising anger ahead of national elections.

WSJ

By Drew Hinshaw, Thomas Grove and Joe Parkinson

President Erdogan, who consolidated control over disaster-response institutions, faces rising anger ahead of national elections

KAHRAMANMARAS, Turkey—After an earthquake killed thousands near Istanbul in 1999, a young Islamist who had served as the city’s mayor boosted his political career by taking tea with survivors in their tents and asking, where is the state?

Now as Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing his own earthquake test. Five days after twin quakes left more than 24,000 people dead, Turkey’s grief is turning into anger—much of it directed against Mr. Erdogan’s government, which has spent years consolidating control over Turkey’s institutions, including the country’s disaster-relief organizations.