Ankara’s controversial mayor erects huge robot statue

A massive statue of a “Transformers” style robot that went on display in Ankara this week was not an elaborate April Fool’s joke, as some residents hoped, but the work of the Turkish city’s controversial mayor. The mass of metal and polyester, which now towers over a busy road junction in the centre of Turkey’s capital, went up on Thursday to promote the new Anka theme park, which mayor Melih Gokcek is having built despite a court injunction over complaints it breaks city planning rules, local press reported.

Which otorobot is the most handsome?

Gokcek asked in a tweet to his more than 2.5 million followers

Gokcek, who has been mayor of this city of five million people since 1994, is one of the more colourful members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Nicknamed “Mad Melih” by his detractors, the mayor had promised voters ambitious projects such as the theme park, with giant replicas of dinosaurs and robots, as well as a channel to “bring the Bosphorus in Ankara,” an arid Turkish city.

Odd News Ankara