A total of 1,108 people have been hired as full-time staff to maintain the Turkish presidential palace in Ankara since June, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Tuesday.
With the latest addition, the full-time staff seeing to the maintenance of the 1,100 room presidential palace of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has more than doubled in number and now totals 2,374, according to figures in the draft budget presented to parliament by the Presidential Office, Cumhuriyet also said.
The formation of new committees following Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections in June has likely increased this number even further, the newspaper added.
The number of civil servants and contract workers, including cleaning and kitchen staff, gardeners and technical workers, at the presidential palace has been unknown since the building opened in October 2014.
Telephones have also doubled in number since the end of June, increasing to 4,137 from 2,084, according to Cumhuriyet.
The palace was initially constructed to serve as the office of the prime minister; however, after Erdoğan won the August 2014 presidential election, he announced the building would be used as the home of the Turkish presidency.
The controversial building was constructed on the Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ), which was established by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, and was designated a first-degree protected site. (Ahval)
