türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Hürriyet Newspaper, 25 November 2018)
Sales pitch: "For every shaikh, a chateau!"
The "Burj Al Babas" housing project began in Bolu's Mudurnu district
in 2011, 3 kilometers from the Mudurnu city center, with the Sarot
Group purchasing land at exorbitant prices from locals. On shopkeeper
explained that he sold a land parcel valued at 120,000 TL to Sarot for
660,000 TL.
Construction then started for 732 villas, a shopping center and mosque.
A 4-kilometer-long pıpeline was built to bring hot thermal water to
the development. As construction continued, 350 of the homes were
sold to customers in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dubai and Saudi Arabia
but at the beginning of 2018, Sarot was not receiving payments from
these customers so building activities were interrupted.
Homesick owners can pitch tents in the garden.
Sarot petitioned an Istanbul court for 'konkordato' (consolidation of
debts) but the court decided on bankruptcy. Sarot's Mehmet Emin
Yerdelen object to the bankruptcy ruling, asserting that "we haven't
received $7.5 million from our Gulf customers. The project's value
is $200 million and we still have 250 villas to sell. The shopping
center and hotel are in place. If we sell just 100 more villas we can
cover our debts, remedy this crisis in 4-5 months and open part of
the project in 2019."
Yerdelen explained that the architecture of the villas was inspired
by the Galata Tower and Kız Kulesi in Istanbul. Locals, though,
are not happy about the style, with shopkeeper Osman Üstün
noting that "these chateau-type villas built for Arabs don't mesh
with Murdurnu, they clash with our historical texture."
Mudurnu (C)
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