CHP deputy files question on 'SpongeBob' castle restoration in Istanbul

A Republican People?s Party (CHP) deputy has filed a parliamentary question about the controversial restoration of a castle dating back 2,000 years in Istanbul?s northern coastal district of ?ile, which has been criticized for resembling cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. 

CHP Istanbul deputy Bar?? Yarkada? filed a question to Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, asking: ?Is this the importance the AKP [Justice and Development Party] municipalities give to our historic and cultural heritage? Why has the historic building been torn from its original look and lost its spirit??

Yarkada? said the restoration process ?more accurately resembled constructing a completely new building rather than restoring it.? 

Social media users mocked the work on the castle, with some likening it to SpongeBob SquarePants and others saying it looked like something out of popular videogame Minecraft.

?Is an inquiry about the issue going to be opened?? Yarkada? asked in his query, while also questioning how much money had been spent on the restoration. 

?ile Municipality did not comment on the specifics of the restoration process, but did state on its official website that it had been carried out in cooperation with Kocaeli University?s Faculty of Architecture and Design.

One social media user had commented: ?Amazing. They restored the ?ile Castle and turned it into SpongeBob monument. I doff my hat to such aesthetic pleasure.?

Another stated: ?Restoration? You better not be involved! A 2,000-year-old monument has turned into a Minecraft Castle.? 

Someone else said they had been in the restoration business for four years, but ?this is the first time I have witnessed a castle restoration that looks like SpongeBob.?