New details emerge in Melih Gökçek's 'Dinosaur' project: Purchased for 3 times their value

The expenditures made for Ankapark by former Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Melih Gökçek, who was removed from office by President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, are back on the agenda.

According to a report in BirGün, it is alleged that exorbitant payments were made for the dinosaurs located in Ankapark, which Gökçek had built at a cost of 801 million dollars, only for it to be closed and left to rot 7 months later.

3 TIMES OVERPAYMENT IN 2013

In 2013, 246 plastic dinosaurs were purchased from China for Ankapark, with a total payment of 2 million 783 thousand dollars.

Today, this figure corresponds to 98.4 million TL. However, if one were to purchase the same dinosaurs from the same company today, the quote provided is only 900 thousand dollars, or 31.8 million TL.

This indicates that three times the amount was paid for the dinosaurs 12 years ago.

RECORD PRICE FOR A 'SYMPATHETIC' T-REX

For the T-Rex dinosaur, which Gökçek described as "sympathetic" by saying "its mouth, eyes, and hands move and it makes sounds," 341 thousand 758 dollars was paid to the Chinese company in 2013.

This corresponds to approximately 12 million TL in today's value. However, the current price of the same T-Rex is only 120 thousand dollars, or 4.2 million TL.

These payments made for the dinosaurs have reignited debates regarding the misuse of public funds for Ankapark.

In particular, the fact that the park, which cost 801 million dollars, was closed shortly after opening and left abandoned had sparked public outrage.