Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced the construction of the "Crescent Star" – a giant compound that will become the new headquarters for the Ministry of National Defence - a government body tasked with national security and managing the Turkish Armed Forces.
"We will be establishing a structure here which will strike fear into our enemies with its standing and give confidence to our friends", Erdogan said.
The building, which some netizens have already dubbed the Turkish Pentagon due to some similarities with the famous US military headquarters, is expected to be completed in May 2023. According to plans, it will consist of several buildings with overall office space estimated at 9.5 million square feet (0.88 square kilometres), which is bigger than the Pentagon's 0.6 square kilometres of offices and is expected to host around 15,000 employees.
The 3D representation of the future building also revealed that located at the centre of it there will be a crescent-shaped and star-shaped building – similar to the flag of Turkey. The star-shaped building will be used as an entrance and an exhibition centre, while the "crescent" will encompass an outdoor area designed to hold various ceremonies.
The announced move of the Ministry of National Defence comes as Turkey intensifies its involvement in regional matters. It namely has carried out several operations in Syria and on Iraqi territory against groups of Kurds, which it deems terrorists. Ankara also allegedly helped its neighbour Azerbaijan in the latter's war with Armenia, although Turkey denies such claims.