Hundreds of faux chateaux being built in Turkey’s northern Bolu province for wealthy Arab buyers are standing empty after the construction company went bust:
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage — hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry — a key sector — as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
According to the Turkish Hürriyet Daily News the project was not popular with locals, who felt that the style was not in keeping with local architectural tradition. I think they may have a point.
Mick Hartley 
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