Ankara mayor sued over erection of ‘Transformer’ robot statue
The capital city's flamboyant mayor is being sued by the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects' Chambers (TMMOB) Ankara branch for wasting public resources by erecting a "monstrosity" at a crossroads in the city. "The money spent for the robot statues, which will be built for the Ankapark project and were referred to by Gökçek as his "prestige project," belongs to the inhabitants [of the city]. We filed a lawsuit [against Gökçek]," the head of TMMOB's Ankara branch, Tezcan Karakuş Candan, told reporters on Tuesday. She went on to say that squandering public resources violates Law No. 5018, which regulates the management and control of the state's fiscal policy and constitutes a deviation from the principles for conducting sound fiscal, macroeconomic and welfare policies, according to Candan. According to reports circulating in the media, the giant robot -- erected on April 1 across from Ankapark to promote the amusement park -- led those who saw it to believe the statue was an April Fool's Day joke by Gökçek on city residents. The Ankara mayor had previously posed in front of giant robots and published the photos on Twitter, asking his followers, "Which robot is more handsome?" Meanwhile in a statement on Wednesday, Gökçek said the granite marble head of the robot was more clever than the members of TMMOB who sued him, adding, "Respect the robot." Read more on Today's Zaman
