The Building That Became a City of Ghost Castles in Turkey

Written by Carla Teles

Published on 06/06/2025 at 18:51

A construção de um sonho virou pesadelo. Entenda como o projeto Burj Al Babas e seus 700 castelos de luxo se tornaram um símbolo global de fracasso e fraude

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Know The Story Of The Luxurious Real Estate Project That Turned Into A Ghost Town And A Monumental Case Of Failure And Fraud.

The Burj Al Babas project in Turkey is a monumental testament to ambition and failure. Designed as a luxury condominium with 732 castle-style villas, the US$ 200 million venture aimed to attract wealthy investors from the Gulf. However, economic crises, the developer’s bankruptcy, and severe controversies led to construction collapsing. Today, it is an uninhabited ghost town, the center of a fraud trial and a symbol of the dangers of real estate speculation.

The Plan Behind The Luxury Castles

The vision of Burj Al Babas was born from the ambition of the Sarot Group, led by brothers Mezher and Mehmet Yerdelen. The project was strategically aimed at wealthy investors from Gulf countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. The name was already a nod to this audience: “Burj” means “tower” in Arabic. The promise was a luxury retreat with the appeal of local hot springs.

The architectural project consisted of 732 almost identical villas, each reminiscent of a European castle. The aesthetic was a deliberate marketing choice to please the taste of foreign buyers, even as it strayed from Turkey’s architectural heritage. At the center of the complex, a building would house a shopping mall, cinemas, a mosque, and health facilities.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

The Start Of Construction And The Partial Reality

The construction of Burj Al Babas officially began in 2014, with a goal of completion in four years. Initial success was remarkable. About 350 of the 732 villas were sold in advance, mostly to buyers from the Gulf. At its peak, the project employed as many as 8,000 workers on site.

By 2018, 587 villas were partially constructed. However, the term “completed” was misleading. Only the exterior was finished, while the interiors remained unfinished and uninhabitable. Essential infrastructure, such as roads and utilities, was also incomplete, suggesting a strategy to maintain appearances rather than deliver a functional project.

Controversies And Warning Signs During Construction

From the outset, the project faced severe issues. In 2014, subcontractors sued the Sarot Group for unpaid debts and the destruction of protected forest. Financial tensions led to worker protests over unpaid wages as early as 2015.

The opposition from the local community in Mudurnu was vigorous. Residents and environmentalists criticized the project for its aesthetic clash with the city’s historical architecture, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site candidate. Allegations of environmental damage, such as deforestation and improper debris disposal, resulted in lawsuits. Despite the warnings, the developers continued with the construction.

Bankruptcy, Abandonment, And The Economic Crisis

A “perfect storm” sealed the project’s fate. Starting in 2018, falling oil prices impacted the purchasing power of Gulf investors. Simultaneously, Turkey faced a severe economic crisis, with its currency devaluation and rising inflation. Many buyers delayed payments or canceled contracts.

With cash flow compromised, the Sarot Group amassed a debt of US$ 27 million. In June 2018, the company filed for bankruptcy, but in November a court ordered its liquidation. The construction was officially halted in 2019, leaving behind a concrete skeleton.

Burj Al Babas Today: Ghost Town And A Complex Legal Battlefield

Today, Burj Al Babas is a surreal and dystopian landscape. Hundreds of identical and empty castles rise amid construction debris and overgrown vegetation. The site has become a destination for “dark tourism”, attracting curious visitors, photographers, and filmmakers.

For investors, the project was a significant loss. The impact on the Mudurnu community is seen as a “permanent scar”. The case escalated into the legal and diplomatic realm, culminating in a fraud trial against the executives of the Sarot Group. The charges include embezzlement of US$ 67 million, and the prosecution is seeking sentences of up to 885 years in prison for the defendants, turning the architectural dream into a judicial nightmare. The future of the venture remains uncertain, oscillating between demolition and an improbable revitalization.

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The Building That Became a City of Ghost Castles in Turkey

Know The Story Of The Luxurious Real Estate Project That Turned Into A Ghost Town And A Monumental Case Of Failure And Fraud.

The Plan Behind The Luxury Castles

The Start Of Construction And The Partial Reality

Controversies And Warning Signs During Construction

Bankruptcy, Abandonment, And The Economic Crisis

Burj Al Babas Today: Ghost Town And A Complex Legal Battlefield

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The Building That Became a City of Ghost Castles in Turkey

Know The Story Of The Luxurious Real Estate Project That Turned Into A Ghost Town And A Monumental Case Of Failure And Fraud.

The Plan Behind The Luxury Castles

The Start Of Construction And The Partial Reality

Controversies And Warning Signs During Construction

Bankruptcy, Abandonment, And The Economic Crisis

Burj Al Babas Today: Ghost Town And A Complex Legal Battlefield

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In the cold desert of Ladakh, where it hardly rains, engineer Sonam Wangchuk created the ice stupa, a tower that freezes winter water and stores it for irrigating crops in the spring, a simple engineering feat that mimics nature.

Desert sand, previously discarded for being too smooth for concrete, becomes an ecological brick in the United Arab Emirates, dispensing with Portland cement, curing at room temperature, and attempting to transform dunes useless for construction into raw material for a new arid engineering.

Chinese woman planted trees for decades while sand buried part of her house, received $5,000 from an American in 1999, and helped transform the desert into a forest of 8 million trees in China.

Almost 6,000 residents live concentrated along a single street nearly 9 km long in the interior of Poland. Houses form a continuous row, and behind them, narrow agricultural strips emerge, creating one of the most unusual rural patterns in Europe.

Described by astronauts as one of the most unlikely natural phenomena on Earth, the Okavango Delta spreads over up to 15,000 square kilometers in the middle of the desert and transforms Botswana into a living labyrinth of channels, islands, and flooded areas.

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