In Turkey's quake zone, voters back Erdoğan in election runoff

Mounds of rubble still block side streets in the centre of Kahramanmaraş , three months after twin earthquakes destroyed large sections of the town and killed 50,000 people across south-east Turkey

Trucks remove 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 underway.

An 18-year-old who gave his name only as Can wore a white cap bearing the signature of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he cleared a pile of rubble. “He works hard for his country,” he said, explaining why he planned to back Erdoğan in tomorrow’s election runoff , a vote with far-reaching consequences for Turkey and its neighbours, as well as relations with allies from Europe to Moscow .

The presidential election off er s voters a chance to end Erdoğan’s two decades in power, where he oversaw sweeping changes and a construction boom as well as a growing financial crisis and a crackdown on his opponents. But what initially appeared to be a referendum on his rule has come to represent a missed opportunity for Turkey’s opposition in the first round, leaving Erdoğan’s rival, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu , trailing and searching for a path to victory in the runoff .