The Sultan's new palace

Sprawling over 91,000 square meters (22.5 acres) inside the Ataturk Forest Farm in west Ankara, the 1,000-room building, inspired by Seljuk architecture, is equipped with extensive security systems: bunkers, tunnels against chemical attacks, high-tech defenses against cyberattacks and espionage, “deaf rooms” with no electrical outlets to fend off bugging attempts and an underground “war room.” A three-floor residence, absent in the original plan, was added to the complex for the Erdogan family.

The building, said to have cost more than $350 million, was given a name: Aksaray. It is a combination of two words — “ak” and “saray” — meaning “white palace.” The word “ak,” which equally means "clean" and "spotless" in Turkish, also figures in the acronym the ruling party uses for itself, AK Party. Hence, “Aksaray” also symbolizes the AKP’s transformation into a “state party.”

Erdogan built the complex for himself personally. When construction started in 2011, the project’s official title was “prime ministry service building.” Now it is a “presidential palace.”

Everything was planned. Had Erdogan lost the Aug. 10 election, the winner would have used the old presidential residence, Cankaya Kosku, and Erdogan would have still had the new one. And when he became president, the “prime ministry service building” became his “Aksaray.” The completion date for construction also appears to have been timed for the presidential polls.

The complex is clearly oversized for the needs of the impartial and ceremonial president the current constitution envisages. It seems to have been designed for a president controlling all executive powers, authorities and institutions.

As Erdogan himself says about the symbolism of “Aksaray”: “Turkey is no longer the old Turkey. The New Turkey needs to manifest itself in certain ways,” he told journalists during a Sept. 4 flight to the NATO summit in Wales aboard his new Airbus 330-200, a large, richly equipped aircraft whose delivery also coincided with his presidency. “The presidential office in the new building was designed in a very different way. This poor fellow contributed much to the project. We need to convey the message that Ankara is a Seljuk capital. We paid great attention to that. We paid attention to Ottoman themes in the interior, also adding elements reflecting the modern world. We had it constructed as a smart building. … [Such are] the requirements of being a great state,” Erdogan said.

A number of key words — “new,” “Ottoman,” “great” — stand out in Erdogan’s remarks.

The new building also helps forge a perception of Ankara as a “Seljuk capital,” which has nothing to do with historical facts. The Seljuks were the Turkish dynasty that opened the door to Anatolia’s Islamization by defeating the Byzantines at Manzikert in 1071.

There is also implicit symbolism in “Aksaray” that invokes Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.

“Aksaray” was erected on land inside the Ataturk Forest Farm, which Ataturk created in 1925 and donated to the state in 1937. The farm, which functioned as a pioneering model for modern agriculture, was registered as a first-degree protected site in 1992, which meant that constructing buildings there was illegal. It remains illegal.

On March 4, an administrative court in Ankara ordered the construction suspended. The Council of State delivered a similar ruling on March 13. Erdogan not only ignored the rulings, but openly challenged the courts. “Let them tear it down if they can. They ordered suspension, yet they can’t stop this building. I’ll be opening it; I’ll be moving in and using it,” he said.

Overriding court rulings, Erdogan had his palace erected on the land of the farm Ataturk had established. His attitude combines historical score-settling and an arbitrary style of governance that flouts the law.

Another negative message Erdogan delivers with “Aksaray” in regards top secular Ataturk symbolism lies in his refusal to reside and work at Cankaya, which was built during the Ataturk era and hosted all Turkish presidents thus far, including Ataturk himself. The historical mansion will be now used as an office and reception venue by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Ankara is not the only venue for Erdogan's grandiose Hitler-esque visions. In Istanbul, Erdogan is battling the status quo ante by erecting the largest, newest and “most Ottoman” symbols of his rule, like the mammoth mosque being constructed on Camlica, Istanbul’s highest hill. The six-minaret mosque, a replica of classical Ottoman architecture designed to be the largest mosque built in Republican times, is expected to accommodate up to 60,000 worshipers within it and in its outdoor areas.