Didim Estate Association chairman Osman Çoskun stood up in front of hundreds of people and addressed the Prime Minister over the tapu scandals dogging the Turlish property market and called on him to make reforms.

Mr Çoskun handed a letter to Mr Erdogan outlining the association’s concerns over the lack of foreigner property rights innthe country – less than an hour before Mr Çoskun had been told of the Didim auction victims.

Mr Çoskun said: “We are listening to the problems of foreigners and I only felt that it was right to stand up and take the opportunity to being the matter to the very head of government.”

He said Mr Erdoğan had listened attentively and pledged to investigate the association’s concerns.

Didim Marina, which has been heavily invested into by Doğuş Group, was opened officially by a ceremony attended by thousands of people.

The ceremony started with the speech of Doğuş Holding CEO Ferit Şahenk, followed by Aydın Governor Avni Coş. Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertuğrul Günay and Minister of Transport Binali Yıldırım also spoke. Prime Minister Erdoğan came on the platform last.

Mr Erdoğan said the country had developed over the last 20 years in an environment of security and trust. He cited the figures of gross national product and said: “We will not stop from now on and we will even accelerate. Yet, we need to love each other.”

Erdoğan said that if solidarity were maintained, Turkey would well exceed the level of modern civilisations.

Doğuş Holding CEO Ferit Şahenk said: “Marinas have recently started to get the attention they deserve. Marinas trigger the tourism sector; they develop themselves and their environments. Therefore it is of crucial importance to build marinas that would make a difference; to provide all kinds of marine and land services at a single location.

“As the Doğuş Group, we are proud to have another link of our chain D-Marine in Didim, which holds a strategic position and is an assertive tourism resort.

“We pushed the button for the D-Marine Didim with the tender we were awarded in 1995 in the build-operate-transfer model. The concession agreement was signed in 1997 and the construction started in October 2006.

“With a total cost of over 75 million dollars, D-Marine Didim is built over a period of 30 months on an area of 500,000 square metres. It can hold 1050 yachts in total – 400 in sea and 650 on land.

“The D-Marine Didim aims to be the biggest maintenance and repair facility in the Mediterranean. The D-Marine Didim will contribute significantly to the economy of the area and create jobs for 650 people in Didim. It will also invigorate the trade and economy, as well as promoting our historical and cultural assets.”