Some 20 citizens who own property on Turkey’s pristine Okluk Bay have received letters from the government offering compensation for the expropriation of their land for an extension to the presidential summer residence in Muğla province.
The office of the local governor of Marmaris sent letters to individuals who own nearly 5 acres of land surrounding the existing Okluk residence, which belongs to the Presidency, announcing the expropriation decision on the grounds of the “public good.”
Deutsche Welle (DW) Turkish service reported that the property owners have been summoned to the local governor’s office for compensation negotiations. However, the government is reportedly offering from 90,000 to 165,000 Turkish lira per thousand square meters of land that is normally valued at around 1 million Turkish lira in the market.
According to DW, business owners in the area, considered a gem, are concerned about the complete closure of the region to tourism after the expropriation as security forces have already been limiting access to private citizens in the area.
The initial summer residence was built during the era of the late President Turgut Özal in the 1980s and only had four rooms. Up until the time in office of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, no other president had used the residence. The Erdoğan administration has been working on a major redesign and extension of the summer residence in Okluk.
The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) stated that their queries regarding the changes taking place at Okluk Bay have not been answered by the Ministry of Urbanization and Environment.