Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended a ceremony in Hatay province on December 27 to hand over the 455,000th new home built for survivors of the 2023 earthquakes that devastated southern Turkey. The February 6 quakes, measuring 7.8 and 7.5 in magnitude, killed more than 53,000 people and displaced millions across southern Turkey and northern Syria. Erdogan said over 55,000 housing units were delivered in Hatay and about 22,000 in Kahramanmaraş, slightly exceeding his earlier pledge of 453,000 units. During the event, Erdogan criticized opposition parties, calling them “earthquake tourists” who sought political advantage from the disaster. He emphasized that his administration had rebuilt infrastructure in affected provinces including Adıyaman and Gaziantep. The president also linked Turkey’s internal stability to the broader Middle Eastern situation, warning against “merchants of blood and chaos” seeking to destabilize the region. Erdogan reiterated that Turkey’s progress depends on a strong ruling party and national unity, highlighting solidarity with neighboring peoples in Syria, Palestine, and Iraq. The 2023 earthquakes were the deadliest in two decades, destroying over 35,000 buildings and severely damaging 200,000 more.