Francis will be the first foreign dignitary to be welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who sanctioned the construction of the £384million 1,000-room building, when he visits Ankara on November 28th.
The palace was built on land bequeathed to the state as a forest farm by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the World War I general and revered founder of the modern Turkish republic.
Tezcan Karakus Candan, who heads the chamber's Ankara branch, said the architects were writing to all foreign heads of state and urging them not to participate in any ceremonies at the "unlicensed palace," which they claim has cut the size of the neighbouring forest to 17 acres.
"We have taken the fight for Ataturk Forest Farm to an international level," Candan said. "We will follow through on this and deliver our reports and letters to all foreign guests."
According to the National Catholic Reporter, several court orders failed to halt construction, infuriating environmentalists who said it ruined one of Ankara's few remaining green spaces.
Construction of the controversial palace has already generated global attention and will present an odd backdrop for the Argentinian pontiff who has made it clear he has little appetite for indulgence and excess.
"For many Turks that building is a symbol of pure greed, cronyism and hunger for absolute power," Yavuz Baydar, a Turkish blogger, told the Italian daily La Repubblica.
