Turkey’s Erdogan defends construction of new presidential palace
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the reason behind the building of his new lavish presidential palace was that his old prime minister’s office had cockroaches in its bathrooms.
In an interview on late Friday, Erdogan defended the controversial construction of the palace, saying cockroaches had roamed the lavatories in the now-vacated residence.
“Does such an office suit the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey? There can be no question of waste where representation is concerned,” media outlets quoted Erdogan as saying.
Erdogan has been accused of squandering state resources when he was premier, when the construction of the controversial 1,150-room palace began, and when it was being built to serve as the residence of the prime minister.
However, the vast extravagant structure was instead re-designated as the presidential palace after Erdogan won the presidential election in August last year.
Opposition parties have strongly criticized the costs of the palace in the run-up to the Sunday parliamentary elections. The critics also say that the lavish palace was illegally built on protected land.
Main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has accused the president of installing gold-plated toilets in the palace.
Erdogan has invited Kilicdaroglu to inspect the lavish palace, saying he would resign if any gold-plated seats were found.
“I said (to Kilicdaroglu), ‘If there is a golden toilet at the presidential palace, come and see it. I will immediately quit the presidency. But if you cannot prove something like this (the existence of golden toilets), if you can’t see it, are you going to stop causing trouble for the Republican People’s Party?’” Erdogan said.
Kilicdaroglu says he had referred to gold-plated toilet seats as a general criticism of lavish spending by officials, and that Erdogan took it personally.
Lawyers say the Turkish president is suing Kilicdaroglu for slander and was seeking 100,000 Turkish Lira (USD 37,000) in compensation from the main opposition leader.
The administration of President Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been hit by series of political and financial scandals in recent months. A recent opinion poll has revealed that the ruling party will be losing its parliamentary majority in the June 7 elections.
JR/HJL/HMV
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