The Perikoy complex (Ko-operatif) was started in 1991, with the purchase of the land by Tacittin Akcakus, Recep and Talip, who also managed the ko-op until finally being booted off by the members. Although the government says that ko-operatifs generally have a completion date of approx 2 years, this is a bit of a joke with regard to our particular complex, since it has been running since 1991 and its members continually defrauded of thousands of lira.
The general opinion of Europeans and Turks alike who live here is, that the ko-operatif has been very badly mismanaged from the word go. Many people, including us, have paid thousands of pounds to the ko-operatif and yet there is very little to show for it.
When we purchased our 2 properties, we were informed by our agent, Omer Kargi, that completion would be by the end of May 2005 and we believed him….big mistake!! We actually have evidence of all of his statements and lies to us in the form of e-mails.
When we moved here in the October of that year, we could not believe the mess everywhere and no gardens were to be seen, indeed, many paths and roads hadn’t even been constructed and some of the residents were having to wade through mud in the winter months, just to get into their houses..
We attended our first ko-operatif meeting in June 2006 and needless to say, it descended into chaos. Tacittin is clearly hated by many Ko-op members for the broken promises and to make matters worse, the Ko-op management informed us all that we would have to pay 250 lira a month (500 for us, as we have 2 villas joined) for another year to get the complex finished by May 2007. Needless to say, it was just more lies and broken promises, so we were all suitably fired up for the meeting in July 2007.
At the ko-op meeting in July 2007, we had the same farce and the same shouting and screaming at the board, understandably so. It is nowhere near complete. There is still filth and rubble everywhere and our ‘NEW’ swimming pool is a disgrace to the swimming pool installers. Like us, many householders are having serious damp problems and plaster is falling off the walls. The houses were constructed with sea sand, which is full of salt and completely illegal. The grass that was planted was just about the worst anybody could have ever used. It produces long creepers up to one metre long and needs cutting every 4 or 5 days to stop it growing into the roads and paths. Many of us who have made an effort to improve the appearance of Perikoy by planting flower beds are fighting a constant battle against the grass to keep them looking decent.
We have now been promised that the site will be completed in 6 months and the Tapu’s will be issued soon after but nobody is very confident. Once the residents have their Tapu’s, the intention is that we will apply to the ministry in Ankara to have the ko-op investigated. A huge perecntageof ko-ops that are investigated are found to have been run inappropriately, with money being misused and stolen from under members noses. This widespread fraud is common but the ministry does absolutely nothing.
The cheap property we purchased in 2004 is now suddenly not so cheap, as we will have paid in the region of 35,000 lira extra since, in monthly fees and work to make our villa habitable. We owe our agent, Omer Kargi of Jasmin Real Estate, no thanks whatsoever, as we also inherited his debt of 2500 lira, which he lied about. We have had to sort out all our problems ourselves but fortunately, Kerim Baliktay and Johan Voss, former employees of Kargi and now proprietors of propertiesalanya.com have been wonderful and got many jobs finished for us without charging us a penny. Kerim, Johan and the team are as honest as you could possibly find here and we would have no hesitation in recommending them to anybody.
The message here to all our visitors is simple; If you are thinking of investing in property here, DO NOT, under any circumstances buy on an incomplete ko-operatif, as they are all tarred with the same brush. Something else to remember is that the ko-op system was set up to help middle income Turks get onto the property ladder, not to help Europeans and wealthy Turks get cheap holiday homes!
Many estate agent in this area selling property at Perikoy are aware of the problems, yet many of them will not tell you, they will say anything to get a sale. Sun Emlak and its affiliates are very honest about Perikoy and make it quite clear that you will have to wait a while for your Tapu but it is likely to be granted to everybody in early 2012. Perikoy will be a beautiful development in the near future. It has a lot going for it, not least that it is on a hill, it is in the popular growing tourist resort of Colakli, it is only 800 metres from the beach and it has a massive amount of open space in the form of gardens, which gives it a very airy feel. Perikoy is going to become a well known and well run development and its property is going to be in high demand.
The latest is, that because of the legacy we inherited from the 3 musketeers, once more, we are all being asked to fork out money to build the shelter required by the local council. Every member paid 1500 lira extra in 2008 for this but the money all disappeared and now we have to find another 1100 lira each. Apparently, the books have been investigated and found to be completely in order. Welcome to Turkey!!!
