Construction works of a summer palace to be built for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chairman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continue unceasingly in Marmaris, while his Presidential Palace with its 1150 rooms, which was built by plundering an area of about 1.5 million square meters from the Atatürk Forest Farm’s lands, is being expanded with additional buildings each passing day.
These works, which began as "maintenance" for the four-roomed guest house built during the period of the 8th Turkish President Turgut Özal, has been transformed into a luxurious new building construction for Erdoğan and his family. The guest house had not been used by the presidents in later periods.
A 300-ROOM PALACE FOR ERDOĞAN INSTEAD OF A 4-ROOM SUMMER HOUSE
While the construction of the palace that had been criticized for its destruction of nature has been kept under wraps, the report revealed that the air-conditioning cost of Erdoğan's summer palace alone is about 3 million TL ($874,659).
The website of the Presidency had previously stated that "the construction of any buildings in the land of the State Guest House in the Okluk Bay in Marmaris is not possible, due to the region has a fascinating natural atmosphere and is a grade 1 natural site area." This information was quietly removed from the website after the construction of Erdoğan's summer palace and the guest house has been demolished.
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Akın Üstündağ claimed that the summer palace that will replace the 4-room guest house will have at least 300 rooms.
THE CONSTRUCTION SITE OF SUMMER PALACE SURROUNDED WITH HIGH WALLS
Surrounded by high and long walls resembling the Great Wall of China, the construction site of Erdoğan's summer palace has been kept secret. Remarking on the potential level of destruction the construction will wreak on nature, those who closely know the region emphasize that thousands of trees have been destroyed already just to allow for the construction of this wall.
Stating that the area where the palace is located was removed from being a natural site area, the CHP deputy Üstündağ noted that the relevant plan regarding the natural site area had been changed before the construction of the summer palace was started.
Indicating that the construction work is damaging the environment, Üstündağ stated that, "The construction of the palace is illegal and unlicensed. Any settlement in the given area is outlawed; even fishing in the bay is illegal. There are Mediterranean monk seal breedings grounds in the vicinity.
The total cost of Erdoğan’s summer palace still remains uncertain. The cost of the Presidential Palace in Ankara had been declared to be at least 4.5 billion TL ($1,311,899,879) by the Chamber of Architects of Turkey, despite the fact that the official statements announced the project cost as 1 billion 370 million TL ($399,408,391).
