Analysis-Turkey's quake response could shape tough election for Erdogan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the coordination center of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) in Ankara, Turkey February 6, 2023.?Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's deadliest earthquake in a generation has handed President Tayyip Erdogan a huge rescue and reconstruction challenge which will overshadow the run-up to May elections already set to be the toughest of his two decades in power.

A day after the quake struck, killing more than 3,500 people in Turkey, opposition parties and some residents in worst-hit areas complained that authorities were slow or ill-equipped to react to the devastation.