The Istanbul Municipality has halted construction work undertaken on a plot rented by a powerful aide of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after neighbours complained, Artı Gerçek reported.
The news site said a municipal team had knocked down landscaping work and a new pergola and fireplace that was under construction on land rented by Turkish Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, a former academic who has risen to become one of Erdoğan’s closest advisors.
Residents of the area in Kuzguncuk where the plot of land is located were outraged that work was underway while the city’s 16 million residents were battling the coronavirus, Artı Gerçek said.
But Nadir Ataman, a local councillor from the main opposition Republican People’s Party, said the work had also been undertaken without the proper permits.
“At first when I received the information, I couldn’t believe … that someone in such an important position was undertaking unauthorised construction work,” he said. “The locals are so fed up with the affair that they are asking me about it every day.”