Abandoned Ankara theme park subject of lawsuits, political controversy
The opposition mayor says the Wonderland Eurasia theme park, or Ankapark, cost $801 million as he files criminal complaint.
![This picture shows abandoned toys and material in the Wonderland Eurasia theme park near the Turkish capital, Ankara, on July 21, 2022, during a press visit to mark its transfer to Ankara Metropolitan Municipality.](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/2022-07/GettyImages-1242032972.jpg?h=1d34674f&itok=VMPoCgRe)
ISTANBUL — Once hailed as Europe’s biggest theme park, Turkey’s Ankapark is now a landscape of decaying fiberglass dinosaurs and scattered debris left by thieves and vandals — as well as the subject of ongoing claims of mismanagement and corruption.
The park, located in northern Ankara on land bequeathed by Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, recently passed into the hands of the city’s current municipal administration after remaining open for less than eight months.