The Mayor said, ‘Respect the robot’ (Picture Youtube)

‘What robot is more handsome?’ asked Mayor Melih Gökçek as he unveiled a 20-foot-tall Transformer this month.

While the robot in the city of Ankara is undeniably a beauty, some taxpayers are furious about what they see as an enormous waste of public money.

They’re clearly not Transformers fans.

After controversy blew up in local media, Mayor Gökçek simply replied, ‘Respect the robot.’


Gökçek is now being sued by the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects’ Chambers, who describe the robot (used to promote a new local amusement park) as a ‘monstrosity’.

MORE: ISIS fighters blindfold gay man and stone him to death

‘The money spent for the robot statues, which will be built for the Ankapark project and were referred to by Gökçek as his “prestige project,” belongs to the inhabitants [of the city]. We filed a lawsuit,’ saidTezcan Karakuş Canda of the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects’ Chambers.