After the May 14 elections in Turkey, disturbing comments emerged on social media platforms aimed at earthquake survivors. How earthquake survivors would affect the election outcome had been heavily speculated, and many had criticized the government for the way it handled the disaster. Foreign and domestic opposition media alike considered that the earthquake would shake support for incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the earthquake-hit provinces, yet the results of the election proved otherwise. This prompted supporters of the opposition to share hateful remarks towards the earthquake victims who voted for Erdoğan. Such actions were condemned by government officials and investigated by the police.

How the earthquake-stricken region voted

Seven out of the ten earthquake-stricken provinces of Turkey showed preference for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the earthquake, Erdoğan received a whopping 71.88% of the votes against Kılıçdaroğlu’s 22.20%. Other provinces, where Erdoğan maintained a large lead from his main opponent were Malatya (69.39% Erdoğan, 27.02% Kılıçdaroğlu), Gaziantep (59.76% Erdoğan, 34.65% Kılıçdaroğlu), Adıyaman (66.33% Erdoğan, 31.09% Kılıçdaroğlu), Osmaniye (62.33% Erdoğan, 30.70% Kılıçdaroğlu), Şanlıurfa (62.01% Erdoğan, 36.06% Kılıçdaroğlu), Elazığ (67.19% Erdoğan, 28.19% Kılıçdaroğlu), and Kilis (65.62% Erdoğan, 26.87% Kılıçdaroğlu). In these districts, the votes for Erdoğan and the People’s Alliance only slightly dropped compared to the 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections... Read more on Politics Today: Türkiye’s Opposition Supporters Insult Earthquake Victims After May 14 Elections [Politics Today, May 24, 2023]