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Turkish architects say Presidential palace should be vacated over election results,

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n_83702_1President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 1,150-room mega-palace and its residents should immediately be evicted, an architects’ NGO has said in a statement after the country’s critical June 7 general elections.

The Ankara Chamber of Architects said the election results, which resulted in the loss of a parliamentary majority for the Justice and the Development Party (AKP), have proven the illegality of the controversial palace, demanding it be vacated immediately.

“Our nation has shown their refusal with the election results that the palace was illegal at heart, as it was built in violation of the law and the will of [Mustafa Kemal] Atatürk on the Atatürk Forest Farm [AOÇ] and a luxurious, gaudy life is led inside. The most serious decision against the ‘illegal palace,’ which was twice in illegal status according to judicial decisions, was the election results. The residents of the ‘illegal palace’ should immediately be evicted,” the head of the chamber, Tezcan Karakuş Candan, said.

Candan also addressed Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, saying he should keep his word about previous claims against Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek, accusing the latter of “having sold Ankara to the Gülen Movement plot-by-plot.”

“We are following the issue; everyone should keep their word. We promised our nation. We said this cause will not end until those who attempt to choke us by narrowing our living space and stealing our children’s future will be accounted for in front of the law and we are doing what is necessary. Thus, Bülent Arınç should keep his word and announce the places sold plot-by-plot, which he said he would announce on June 8,” added Candan.

The case into whether the will of Atatürk was broken in building the palace will be concluded in Ankara on June 9.

Turkey: Erdogan’s palace declared illegal by Turkish court

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The Turkish Supreme Court has ruled that the construction of an 1,100-room palace by President Erdogan was illegal. The palace was constructed on protected land.

Tuesday’s decision by Turkey’s Supreme Court revoked the building permit that had been issued to build President President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s palace after the fact because it had been illegally built on protected land. report DW

The palace was inaugurated in October to coincide with Erdogan’s transition from head of government as Prime Minister to head of state as President. The building has had plenty of critics, many of whom focus on the construction costs of just over 500 million euros (well over $600 million) for the 1,100-room palace.

The presidential palace, popularly dubbed Ak Saray (“White Palace”) was built under controversial circumstances, in a wooded area within the Ataturk Forest Farm in Ankara. The construction went ahead despite environmental concerns and court orders, prompting its critics to instead call it Kacak Saray (“Illegal Palace”).

It appears now that they may be right with the moniker, however it remains unclear if the court decision will have any consequences for Erdogan or the completed palace.

Parliamentary elections in Turkey are approaching on June 7. As president, Erdogan is not allowed to partipate in any campaigning, but his recent speeches have carried a distinct undertone of support for the AKP, the party he previously led as prime minister. There is also increased support in Turkey for Erdogan’s plan of assigning more powers to his new role as president, currently seen as a largely ceremonial role.

mz/msh (AP, dpa, AFP)

Turkish Police Break up Demo by President’s Palace

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AP_logo_update_20130709ANKARA, Turkey — Nov 29, 2014, 9:38 AM ET

Riot police have dispersed a protest by dozens of students near Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s new, contested 1,000-room palace.

Police on Saturday used shields and pepper spray to prevent the students from marching to the palace that has become an emblem of Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian style of governing. Video footage showed one officer punching a student in the face as he was being held by another officer. Twenty-two students were arrested, reports said.

The $630 million palace has drawn the ire of opposition parties, environmentalists and human rights activists who say the construction is too extravagant, destroyed thousands of trees and went ahead despite a court ruling.

Pope Francis, who is on a three-day visit to Turkey, became the first foreign dignitary to be welcomed at the complex Friday.

John Oliver slams Erdoğan’s 1000 room palace

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196899_newsdetailComedian John Oliver devoted a segment of his show to ridiculing the extravagance of the new Turkish presidential palace on the “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” show’s episode airing on Sunday night.

Oliver took a moment to mock the indulgence of the new presidential palace, called Ak Saray (the White Palace). He noted the unnecessary number of the palace’s 1,000 rooms, joking that after the first 500, it would be difficult to find uses for the remaining half. The comedian also underlined that the 1.6-million-square-foot palace has been built in a contentious area, the Atatürk Forestry Farm (AOÇ).

The segment poking fun at the excessively large presidential palace was peppered with news clips that shone a light on various areas of controversy around former Prime Minister and now-President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, from charges of massive corruption to alleged intimidation of newspaper editors.

Furthermore, Oliver highlighted that though President Erdoğan is an important ally for the US, he is a controversial figure for citizens of Turkey, quoting Erdoğan’s statement: “No one can prevent the completion of this building. If they are powerful enough, let them come and demolish it.”

Turkey: Erdogan dictatorial palace unveils with thousand rooms “resemble saddam hussein’s palaces”

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erdogan-palaceThe Turkish president has unveiled his new presidential palace on Wednesday amidst huge controversy, euronews.com reports. 

Opposition politicians have mocked the extravagance of the palace – which has 1,000 rooms and is understood to have cost more than 270 million euros – and say it is evidence of the president’s autocratic tendencies.

Environmentalists are angry that the complex has been built on one of the city’s best preserved green spaces and that hundreds of trees were cut down.

It was originally planned as a palace for the prime minister but once Erdogan stepped down as prime minister and was voted in as president, the plans changed.

More than 4,000 people had been invited to an evening reception although media outlets critical of his policies were not on the guest list.

In the end the reception – to mark the annual Republic Day – was cancelled after the mining disaster in the south of the country.