As Türkiye reels from the Feb. 6 earthquakes, the worst in the country's recent history, the government strives to speed up recovery and rebuilding efforts. The May 14 elections, which dominated the country’s agenda for a long time, were, understandably, almost forgotten amid the tragedy dubbed the “disaster of the century” by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is again running for the top office.
Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has shunned speaking about the elections since the Feb. 6 catastrophe, while the opposition alliance, which was expected to announce their candidate this month, was largely quiet, except for urging the government to hold the elections at the scheduled time.
The catastrophe will likely be the No. 1 item in the election campaigns of the AK Party, which will be revised by its organizers. The campaign will focus on rebuilding the devastated cities and ensuring the return of people who fled their hometowns due to the disaster.
Erdoğan is not expected to hold usual campaign rallies. Rallies will either be canceled altogether or there will be very few. The president, ministers and party officials are expected to spend most of the time they would normally allocate for campaigning on visits to earthquake-hit provinces.
