The palace was initially constructed to serve as the office of the Prime Minister.
After Erdoğan won the August 2014 presidential election, he announced on 2 September 2014 that the building will be used as the new seat of the presidency.
The building was constructed inside the Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ), which was established by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1925.
In 1937, President Atatürk, acting as the Mareşal, donated the farm to the state.
In 1992 the farm was designated a first-degree protected site meaning that no construction should be done within its territory.
On 4 March 2014, an administrative court in Ankara ordered the suspension of the palace's construction.
The suspension order was supported by the Council of State on 13 March.
Erdoğan ignored the decision, saying "Let them tear it down if they can.
They ordered suspension, yet they can't stop the construction of this building.
I'll be opening it; I'll be moving in and using it".

Finance minister Mehmet Şimşek, quoted by Turkey's Hürriyet newspaper, said the construction cost of the palace would be 1.37bn ₺ ($615m), most of which had already been spent, but another $135m had been budgeted for it in 2015.
In December 2014, Turkey's state-owned Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) refused to divulge the actual construction cost on the grounds that releasing the information could hurt Turkey's economy, citing Article 17 of the Law on the Provision of Information.
Tezcan Candan, head of the Turkish Chamber of Architects' Ankara branch, said the final cost could be over 5 billion lira.

Pope Francis was the first head of state hosted at the new Presidential Palace on 28 November 2014, during his visit to Turkey.
Turkish architects had called on the Pope not to attend the ceremony at the "unlicensed" Ak Saray.
On 1 December 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin was the second foreign guest welcomed with a ceremony in front of the new palace.
A welcoming ceremony for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on 12 January 2015 attracted controversy after President Erdoğan was pictured flanked by members of the presidential guard dressed in historic warrior costumes.
Intended to represent the military costumes of 16 Turkic states, comments about their historical inaccuracy resulted in a viral social media joke about the guards at the presidential palace.
The dean of Pamukkale University's Faculty of Medicine, Professor Hasan Herken, who tweeted "Do you know which Turkic state that man wearing a bathrobe represents?",
later resigned his position after receiving death threats and protests by local youth branches of the AK Party.

In 2016, the complex was bombed as part of the failed coup d'état attempt.
The palace was initially constructed to serve as the office of the Prime Minister. After Erdoğan won the August 2014 presidential election, he announced on 2 September 2014 that the building will be used as the new seat of the presidency. The building was constructed inside the Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ), which was established by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1925. In 1937, President Atatürk, acting as the Mareşal, donated the farm to the state. In 1992 the farm was designated a first-degree protected site meaning that no construction should be done within its territory. On 4 March 2014, an administrative court in Ankara ordered the suspension of the palace's construction. The suspension order was supported by the Council of State on 13 March. Erdoğan ignored the decision, saying "Let them tear it down if they can. They ordered suspension, yet they can't stop the construction of this building. I'll be opening it; I'll be moving in and using it".
Finance minister Mehmet Şimşek, quoted by Turkey's Hürriyet newspaper, said the construction cost of the palace would be 1.37bn ₺ ($615m), most of which had already been spent, but another $135m had been budgeted for it in 2015. In December 2014, Turkey's state-owned Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) refused to divulge the actual construction cost on the grounds that releasing the information could hurt Turkey's economy, citing Article 17 of the Law on the Provision of Information. Tezcan Candan, head of the Turkish Chamber of Architects' Ankara branch, said the final cost could be over 5 billion lira.
Pope Francis was the first head of state hosted at the new Presidential Palace on 28 November 2014, during his visit to Turkey. Turkish architects had called on the Pope not to attend the ceremony at the "unlicensed" Ak Saray. On 1 December 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin was the second foreign guest welcomed with a ceremony in front of the new palace. A welcoming ceremony for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on 12 January 2015 attracted controversy after President Erdoğan was pictured flanked by members of the presidential guard dressed in historic warrior costumes. Intended to represent the military costumes of 16 Turkic states, comments about their historical inaccuracy resulted in a viral social media joke about the guards at the presidential palace. The dean of Pamukkale University's Faculty of Medicine, Professor Hasan Herken, who tweeted "Do you know which Turkic state that man wearing a bathrobe represents?", later resigned his position after receiving death threats and protests by local youth branches of the AK Party.
In 2016, the complex was bombed as part of the failed coup d'état attempt.
Presidential Complex