Despite criticism of his response to February’s earthquakes, Erdoğan is increasingly popular in the rural provinces most affected
Mounds of rubble still block sidestreets in the centre of Kahramanmaraş, three months after two deadly earthquakes destroyed large sections of the town and killed 50,000 people across south-east Turkey. Trucks remove mammoth tangles of metal cables that once supported the shops and restaurants that lined the streets, while workers pick shards of glass out of the destroyed interior of the town’s much-loved ice-cream shop.
Some of the towering piles of rubble that dwarfed buildings months ago have been cleared but many buildings remain, bearing jagged cracks in their empty facades. The main signs of change are cabins lining the destroyed streets to temporarily shelter local businesses – along with a few billboards indicating that an election is under way.
