Erdoğan's 'Ak Saray' likened to Alamut Castle, Ceausescu’s Palace

Turkey’s newly inaugurated presidential palace draws more criticism from the opposition, with references to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and the 11th century assassin stronghold of Alamut Opposition parties have ramped up their objection to Turkey’s newly inaugurated presidential palace, set to cost more than half a billion Turkish Liras, likening the gargantuan complex to Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu’s People’s Palace or Hassan al-Sabbah’s castle of Alamut.

The construction of the sprawling edifice has become a divisive issue between lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and opposition parties.

“The project of the new building is an adaptation of the palace which Ceauşescu had built in Bucharest for himself, but couldn’t even reside for a single day. It is an adaptation both in regards to the project and in regards to the mentality,” Ankara deputy Ä°zzet Çetin of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said during commission-level debates late on Nov. 4. 

Amid the debates sharply dividing public opinion, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held separate meetings with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel and National Intelligence Organization’s (MÄ°T) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan yesterday. As a requirement of his post, it was the first time he held the regular weekly meetings at the new Presidential Palace instead of the traditional Çankaya Palace. 

Earlier this week, during ongoing deliberations over the 2015 Central Governance Budget Law at the Parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek announced that the total value of the project was expected to reach $615...