Drop of Light/Shutterstock Over a month after the devastating Turkey-Syria earthquake, the cost — both human and material — continues to rise.A political reckoning could be awaiting Turkey’s veteran president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at landmark polls unofficially scheduled for May 14.Defeat for Erdogan would be seismic for Turkey and the Middle East, and potentially impact Nato and the conflict in Ukraine by reorientating Turkey toward the West. Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Turkey’s strongman has built a career on proving his doubters wrong. But no doubt this is Erdogan’s biggest challenge yet. The quake death toll is approaching 50,000 and rising by the day. The economy was struggling even before the quake, battered by the highest inflation rate in Europe, and struggling to climb out of a $109 billion trade deficit hole. The initial government response to the crisis has been widely criticized, even by its supporters, for being too slow. Poor enforcement of earthquake-related building regulations has clearly meant thousands more died than necessary. One opinion poll this week saw him trailing rival candidate for the presidency, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, by over 13%.
