PodcastAnkara theme park that cost millions of dollars rotting away 15 months after opening
A theme park in the capital that cost $750 million to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) municipality at the time is rotting away, news broadcaster FOX TV reported. The theme park closed down in early 2020 because the private management firm was unable to pay electricity debts.
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An Ankara theme park that cost about $750 million to the Ankara Municipality under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is shut down, abandoned and rotting away only 15 months after it opened, news broadcaster FOX TV reported on June 24.
ÖZEL... #AnkaPark’ta milyarlar çöpe gitti! #MelihGökçek’in 750 milyon dolara yaptığı ANKAPARK hurdaya döndü... #FOXHaber pic.twitter.com/k8evajCvDR
— FOX HABER (@FOXhaber) June 24, 2020
Opened in March 2019 with a ceremony that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at, Ankapark's (Wonderland Eurasia) management was granted to a private firm.
The theme park closed down in February 2020 due to electricity debts that management couldn't afford, leaving hundreds of workers unemployed.
Ankara Mayor from main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Mansur Yavaş had said in a meeting recently that the previous municipal administration, led by Melih Gökçek, had spent funds on Ankapark instead of necessary infrastructure work in the city.
"There's emergency water and sewage work that needs to be done here. It's urgent, not routine work. In previous years, these were overlooked to buy helicopters and dinosaurs for Ankapark," Yavaş said.
In late May, the Ankara Municipality applied to the courts to report that management was in breach of contract for not carrying out their responsibilities about the theme park.
Ankapark was also controversial about its location, having been constructed on the Atatürk Forest Farm, owned by the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.
Land rented for mosque construction on iconic Atatürk Forest Farm to be kept as a park