Trying to keep a houseboat afloat
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 20, 2009 00:00
FETHİYE - Wealthy businessman Kahraman Sadıkoğlu builds a floating house and anchors it in villages near Göcek’s Sarsarla Bay on the Aegean coast. Authorities say the boat’s permit is for other purposes and therefore illegal.
What does one do in Turkey when one wants to build one’s dream home, but cannot get the necessary permission? If one is super-wealthy businessman Kahraman Sadıkoğlu, one option is to build a houseboat: And not just any old small boat.
At 8,000 square meters, Sadıkoğlu’s dream house is truly enormous. The luxury floating home is usually moored in Göcek’s Sarsarla Bay, in the Aegean province of Muğla. Sadıkoğlu has called the mammoth creation "My Fantasy."
The local authorities, though, are in no mood to let him get away with it. They keep imposing fines on Sadıkoğlu, saying that when he applied for a permit, he stated a different use for the boat.
"My Fantasy" is now hidden behind high fences, like an exotic beast in a zoo, protected from nosy gazes and would-be sightseers by security guards. This week, a "garden" was being delivered to decorate the artificial-turf "lawn" and workers were making the boat ready for her return to Sarsarla Bay, in which she spends the hot summer months.
It probably would not be advisable for the rest of us to attempt such a daring residence for ourselves, but certainly, what the boat lacks in aesthetic beauty, it makes up for with bravado. The houseboat has reportedly now received a ship’s permit after some years of uncertainty.
Authorities determined
However, daily Vatan reported Friday that maritime authorities have said the permit was requested to use the boat as an exhibition space, and if it is being used as a house, they will not allow it to be moved. According to Vatan, Environment Minister Veysel Eroğlu has said the government will not allow the vessel to be used as a home and that heavy fines would continue to be imposed in the event of violations.
Sadıkoğlu has been fined several times in the past by authorities over the boat. According to Vatan, Sadıkoğlu defended himself by saying that Turkey is not a "banana republic," and that he has all the necessary documents proving that his vessel is a ship - documents that he did not obtain from a supermarket but from the proper authorities.
"We won't allow this ship to anchor in the villages around Göcek anymore because this is an environmental matter," Ahmet Özyanak, the coordinator for environment affairs at the Environment Ministry, told Vatan. "Not just this ship, but all ships, won't be allowed to anchor for long periods."
At 8,000 square meters, Sadıkoğlu’s dream house is truly enormous. The luxury floating home is usually moored in Göcek’s Sarsarla Bay, in the Aegean province of Muğla. Sadıkoğlu has called the mammoth creation "My Fantasy."
The local authorities, though, are in no mood to let him get away with it. They keep imposing fines on Sadıkoğlu, saying that when he applied for a permit, he stated a different use for the boat.
"My Fantasy" is now hidden behind high fences, like an exotic beast in a zoo, protected from nosy gazes and would-be sightseers by security guards. This week, a "garden" was being delivered to decorate the artificial-turf "lawn" and workers were making the boat ready for her return to Sarsarla Bay, in which she spends the hot summer months.
It probably would not be advisable for the rest of us to attempt such a daring residence for ourselves, but certainly, what the boat lacks in aesthetic beauty, it makes up for with bravado. The houseboat has reportedly now received a ship’s permit after some years of uncertainty.
Authorities determined
However, daily Vatan reported Friday that maritime authorities have said the permit was requested to use the boat as an exhibition space, and if it is being used as a house, they will not allow it to be moved. According to Vatan, Environment Minister Veysel Eroğlu has said the government will not allow the vessel to be used as a home and that heavy fines would continue to be imposed in the event of violations.
Sadıkoğlu has been fined several times in the past by authorities over the boat. According to Vatan, Sadıkoğlu defended himself by saying that Turkey is not a "banana republic," and that he has all the necessary documents proving that his vessel is a ship - documents that he did not obtain from a supermarket but from the proper authorities.
"We won't allow this ship to anchor in the villages around Göcek anymore because this is an environmental matter," Ahmet Özyanak, the coordinator for environment affairs at the Environment Ministry, told Vatan. "Not just this ship, but all ships, won't be allowed to anchor for long periods."