World

Erodogan Presidential Palace costs soar

November 5, 2014 10:44 am

A controversial new 1,000-room palace built for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will cost about $1.2 billion nearly twice the previous estimate, Turkish officials say.

Known as Ak Saray (White Palace), it was built on a forested hilltop on the edge of the capital Ankara, on more than 150,000 sq m of land.

Erdogan opened the palace on 30 August after becoming president.

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His AK Party has dominated Turkish politics for more than a decade.

The palace is bigger than the White House in Washington, the Kremlin in Moscow and even the Palace of Versailles near Paris.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek, quoted by Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper, says most of the xost had been paid, but another $263m had been budgeted for it in 2015.

The palace has sumptuous marble corridors and atriums, as well as high-tech systems to prevent electronic eavesdropping.