Construction firms in Aydın's Didim district on the Turkish Riviera reacted strongly against the Mass Housing Administration's (TOKİ) initiative to build homes and holiday villages in coastal cities and sell them to foreigners.
“This case will cause unfair competition. TOKİ should go on with its actual job, which is building homes for low-income groups”, said Mustafa Bekar, owner of the construction firm Karya Grup. TOKİ opposes many contractors who undertake luxury construction projects for foreigners, said Bekar. “It would be a big mistake that the state entered harsh competition with us. As a social association, TOKİ was founded with the aim of maintaining social balance and helping low-income groups own homes.”
We see that TOKİ has deviated from its actual job. The construction works undertaken by TOKİ with low costs lead the prices to drop further. The state should find ways to increase property prices for foreigners, not to decrease them, Bekar said. He said it is not right for TOKİ to construct houses in coastal cities. "It is beneficial for neither the state nor us to create competition by the hand of the state and to cause prices to drop; only foreigners take advantage of this," said Bekar.
