[3] Announced 17 days before the June 2015 general election, the project did not show a significant impact in the polls, with the CHP continuing to trail the AKP at 25-27%.

[5] In an initiative to link both the east and west, the proposal would be based around a megacity being built in Central Anatolia, with maps being presented with the project advertisements indicating a possible location near the provinces of Kayseri, Sivas, Malatya and Kahramanmaraş.

[12] The megacity is planned to be served by high-capacity roads, railway (for both land routes and train ferries) and an airport in order to create a centre for consolidation that increases the capacity and efficiency for trade.

[14] The project is part of the CHP's policies to eradicate poverty in Turkey, with the city planned to end domestic migration and provide 1,633,000 jobs in its initial stages.

'[24] The AKP Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan described the project as 'puzzling' and 'unfeasible', criticising the CHP's failure to state what province the city would be situated in.

Calling the project unrealistic, Babacan also attacked the CHP's wider economic plan by claiming that greater spending would increase inflation rates.

[25] Fikri Işık, the Minister of Science, Industry and Technology, criticised the project by calling it 'eccentric' and claimed that Turkey needed to recognise the power of its existing cities rather than building a new one.

[26] A member, economist and former government minister from the CHP, Kemal Derviş, also approached the project cautiously, stating that it had to be executed properly to be successful.

[27] Ebru Soytemel, a research associate at Oxford University claimed that the CHP should focus on making Turkey's existing cities more liveable since megacities rarely solve problems such as unemployment and usually come at a high cost.

[30] It was also claimed by pro-government media outlets that the Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had based his book "Stratejik Derinlik (Strategic Depth)" around the idea of Turkey becoming the central country in the region, accusing the CHP of stealing the AKP's ideals.