Samet Atak
Ankara Atakule (Ankara's Tower), Turkey
Ankara, like many Turkish cities, is built on a number of hills, one of them carrying a Kale or fortress. The city is ancient but was of minor importance until Atatürk decided (I recently read it was Inönü who made the proposal) it would be the capital of the Turkish state, instead of Istanbul, because it was in the heart of the country and did not have all the connotations Istanbul had as a pretty Europized city. As a result there are some very old mosques (I will put up pictures of them later), the Kale is old, and most of the rest of the city is from the twenties and thirties of the 20th century, or quite modern. New buildings have been erected every time I go there, and a large modern mosque is quite spectacular. Near the Kale is the important Anatolian Civilizations Museum. In a separate gallery you find the Anit Kabir.
Ankara Atakule (Ankara's Tower), Turkey
Ankara, like many Turkish cities, is built on a number of hills, one of them carrying a Kale or fortress. The city is ancient but was of minor importance until Atatürk decided (I recently read it was Inönü who made the proposal) it would be the capital of the Turkish state, instead of Istanbul, because it was in the heart of the country and did not have all the connotations Istanbul had as a pretty Europized city. As a result there are some very old mosques (I will put up pictures of them later), the Kale is old, and most of the rest of the city is from the twenties and thirties of the 20th century, or quite modern. New buildings have been erected every time I go there, and a large modern mosque is quite spectacular. Near the Kale is the important Anatolian Civilizations Museum. In a separate gallery you find the Anit Kabir.