TMMOB to bring Erdoğan’s lavish Ak Saray to European court; for violating Ataturk's last will.

TMMOB to bring Erdoğan’s lavish Ak Saray to European court; For violating Ataturk's last will. (HD).

The Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects' Chambers (TMMOB) announced on Monday that it will bring a case to the European Court of Human Rights claiming the lavish presidential palace, widely dubbed the AK Saray, was "illegally" constructed inside the Atatürk Forestry Farm (AOÇ) -- an environmentally protected area where construction is not permitted.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's luxury presidential palace, which was constructed on an area of 300,000 square meters in Ankara, continues to occupy the agenda in domestic politics. In the latest in a series of press briefings, on Wednesday TMMOB Ankara branch head Tezcan Karakuş Candan accused Erdoğan of ignoring several previous court orders to halt the palace's construction.

“All the domestic remedies have been exhausted. We were not the ones who were mistreated. It was the principles of the Republic of Turkey and the historicity of the Atatürk Forestry Farm. We are facing clear unlawfulness. It is very upsetting to see that we have nothing in hand even though all of the domestic remedies have been exhausted. We will therefore take the subject to the European Court of Human Rights,” Candan stated.

Candan also noted that Atatürk had donated the AOÇ to the state on the condition that it be left open to public use, and that therefore Atatürk's will has been violated as the area is no longer being used publicly. Read the full story here.

Keeping 'White elephant' ‘Ak Saray’ warm costs as much as heating an entire province.

Keeping 'White elephant' ‘Ak Saray’ warm costs as much as heating an entire province.(Bugun).

The Ankara branch of the Architects’ Chamber declared that the 1000+ room Presidential Palace AK Saray's heating alone costs TL 10 million over six months; good enough to heat the Turkish province of Bayburt.

The heating cost of the newly built presidential palace “Ak Saray” is more than a city in Turkey, Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects’ Chambers (TMMOB) announced on Wednesday.

Expressing the heating cost of the palace for six months is TL 10 million, Candan said “The cost was calculated by our specialists from Urban Monitoring Center. Calculation survey was done by thinking of base of six months of winter and six months of summer season.”

Underlining that they had revealed the minimum heating cost of the palace, Candan added “The heating cost estimated is for 12 hours daily. Probably it will be heated for 24 hours, but the calculations were carried out at the least cost.”

Adding that the cost is good enough to heat eastern Turkish province of Bayburt; Candan said “Ak Saray’s seasonal heating cost corresponds to 8,300 households. If we consider that each household has four members, you could keep 34,000 people warm. This would mean you could heat up all of Bayburt province for one season.” Hmmmm.....I'm starting to wonder how many human lives Erdogan's 'ambitions' will cost the world.