Inside the Turkish Tower indictment against Mayor Eric Adams

What did Turkey and its powerful, globe-trotting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan get in return for the thousands of dollars in luxury, first-class travel and other lavish perks that were allegedly smuggled to embattled Mayor Eric Adams?

According to the historic five-count indictment unsealed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Thursday, Erdoğan built a gleaming, 36-story glass and steel tower called the “Turkish House” over the New York City skyline at the United Nations perched on the East River – a consular location allegedly pursued by Adams despite fire safety concerns.

“In September 2021, (a Turkish official) told Eric Adams, the defendant, that it was his turn to retaliate against the Turkish officials by pressuring the New York City Fire Department to allow the opening of a new Turkish consulate building – of a 36-story building – a skyscraper – without a fire inspection, in time for a high-profile visit by the Turkish president,” the indictment says.

“At that time, the building would not have passed an FDNY inspection. In exchange for free travel and travel-related bribes in 2021 and 2022 arranged by the Turkish official, Adams did as instructed.

“Due to pressure from Adams on the FDNY, the FDNY official responsible for the FDNY’s fire safety assessment of the skyscraper was told that he would lose his job if he did not relent, and after Adams intervened, “The skyscraper was opened as requested.”

In 2017, shortly after construction of the so-called Turkevi Center began, Erdogan led a ceremony at the site along with his wife and foreign minister.

“This new building will be a place worthy of our growing and developing country, whose prestige is increasing in all areas,” Erdogan said at the ceremony, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.

The Turkevi House, he said, would symbolize a “space worthy of our country’s glory.”

Stay up to date with the New York Post’s coverage of the indictment of Mayor Eric Adams

According to Sinan Ciddi, an expert on Turkish domestic and foreign policy at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, this also happened to Erdogan’s credit.

“It was a total vanity project for Erdogan,” Ciddi told The Post on Thursday. “At the time there were all sorts of questions about how they were able to do these inspections so quickly and now we know.

“For Erdogan it was a prestige thing – look at what we ourselves are creating in NYC, for example. He wanted a symbol of Turkey’s preeminence in the world and he got it – and he got it when he wanted it.”

Perkins Eastman, the architectural firm that designed the building, calls it “a stunning addition to the New York City skyline (supporting U.S. operations in the Republic of Turkey”).

The curved facade pays homage to the crescent on the Turkish flag and the top of the Turkish House is shaped like a tulip, Turkey’s national flower.

A 2021 Department of Buildings report on the fire alarm system seen by The Post on Thursday found that a list of fire safety issues still had not been addressed to bring the building up to code.

An FDNY spokeswoman emailed The Post on Thursday that the building’s fire alarm system was approved in March 2023, but gave no further details other than to say the building was “safe.”

A source familiar with the building’s construction told The Post that in 2021 he believed there were “significant issues with this building.”

The Turkish House includes a passport and visa branch, public areas, conference rooms, a multi-purpose prayer room and an auditorium, as well as some residential units.

Diplomatic meetings of Turkish officials regularly take place in the building. Last September, Erdogan invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Turkish House of Representatives.

The Turkish House was reportedly built by Turkish billionaire Enver Yucel, a construction tycoon who is also the head of BAU Global, the roofing network that founded Bay Atlantic and Bahcesehir universities.

Among the Turks who appeared to benefit directly from Adams was former Turkish Airlines CEO Cenk Ocal. After becoming mayor in 2022, he was eventually appointed to Adams’ transition team and Ocal eventually became Adams’ official liaison to the Turkish community.

Last November, on the same day that the government searched the home of Adams’ top fundraiser Brianna Suggs, they also searched the homes of City Hall staffer Rana Abbasova, director of protocol in the Office of International Affairs, as well as the home of Ocal. Ocal was not named in the indictment against Adams.