We and the Erdoğans live modestly without splendor: Berat Albayrak's father

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The Albayrak and Erdoğan families share similarly modest lifestyles, said Finance Minister Berat Albayrak's father Sadık in an interview with the Hürriyet daily over the weekend. 

Berat Albayrak is the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the latter of whom is a close friend of Sadık Albayrak, a writer and former politician. 

The appointment of Berat Albayrak — who is 42 years old and married to Erdoğan's daughter Esra — as the country's finance minister has been the source of significant scrutiny as critics of the government insist that Albayrak is unfit for the position and that the economy has taken a turn for the worse during his tenure. 

“We are close to their family. It was predestined by God. We became relatives. Our lifestyles suit one another, and our family structures are close to each other. There is no splendor or pomp. Mrs. Emine [Erdoğan] and Mrs. Kıymet [Albayrak] have warm affinity for each other. As a family we were always modest,” Sadık Albayrak said. 

While Albayrak reportedly lives in a 45-square meter house in the highlands of the province of Trabzon, President Erdoğan resides in a massive, lavish palace with more than a thousand rooms that was built in Ankara in 2014 at the cost of $600 million. 

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