Thursday, September 21, 2006
Ankara
I have been here in Ankara for almost 3 weeks now and I feel like I can now comment on the nature of the city in adequate fashion. So here it goes,
This is a city that consistently get a bad rap. Tell anyone from Istanbul, Izmir, or Antalya that you are travelling to Ankara and the reply will undoubtedly be "Why? Why are you doing such a thing?". To most Turks, Ankara is a large dirty city in the middle of nowhere with nothing beautiful around it, and by beautiful they mean water or mountains. Certainly when compared to Istanbul there is much less to do there, it really isn't fair to compare the two however. It is sort of like comparing New York to Washington D.C. This city does indeed have a lot to offer, but lacks the truckloads of history that Istanbul has. The first thing to understand about Ankara is that there are really two cities, one old Roman-Byzantine-Ottoman garrison town and the other the gleaming ideal metropolis of Ataturk. It is organized with the old Roman city (which used to go by Angora or Ankyra) whose most notable monument is the citadel. I took a trip there a couple of weeks ago and it is a very interesting site. The two fortresses lie on either side of a canyon that now has a highway running through it. As you walk up to the citadel you notice that it is not cordoned off by any official state sanctuary, but rather the neo-ottoman village is built in around it and literally runs up onto its steps. Other than the citadel there are a few roman ruins of baths and temples, but much is in a sorry state of disrepair. The metropolis has many different neighborhoods, squares and districts, much like any modern city in the US. The district known as Kızılay, which I visited yesterday in search of a bookstore, is the closest thing to Times Square I have seen in Turkey, Istanbul included. While a bit more spread out than the heart of Manhattan Kızılay is a uber-busy square with a central monumental statue and any business imaginable. Bilkent University lies on the outskirts of the city in a very secure, cordoned off campus, which is much different than what I'm used to in Chicago (and in my opinion it takes something away from the university, but that might be a different post). The third aspect of the city, while a large aspect of other cities, Ataturks presence is felt here in a tremendous way. While today's ruling party might stray a good bit from his principles, his personality cult is still incredibly strong here. You absolutley cannot walk into a market, store, foodstand, club, mall, or restaurant without a picture of his magnanimous person somewhere. Turkish flags and oversized portraits are hung out of skyscrapers often. From his colossal mausoleum to the döner shop on the corner, this city, more than any other, is Ataturk's city, and it seems to me that it has stayed true to him and his vision for Turkey.
This is a city that consistently get a bad rap. Tell anyone from Istanbul, Izmir, or Antalya that you are travelling to Ankara and the reply will undoubtedly be "Why? Why are you doing such a thing?". To most Turks, Ankara is a large dirty city in the middle of nowhere with nothing beautiful around it, and by beautiful they mean water or mountains. Certainly when compared to Istanbul there is much less to do there, it really isn't fair to compare the two however. It is sort of like comparing New York to Washington D.C. This city does indeed have a lot to offer, but lacks the truckloads of history that Istanbul has. The first thing to understand about Ankara is that there are really two cities, one old Roman-Byzantine-Ottoman garrison town and the other the gleaming ideal metropolis of Ataturk. It is organized with the old Roman city (which used to go by Angora or Ankyra) whose most notable monument is the citadel. I took a trip there a couple of weeks ago and it is a very interesting site. The two fortresses lie on either side of a canyon that now has a highway running through it. As you walk up to the citadel you notice that it is not cordoned off by any official state sanctuary, but rather the neo-ottoman village is built in around it and literally runs up onto its steps. Other than the citadel there are a few roman ruins of baths and temples, but much is in a sorry state of disrepair. The metropolis has many different neighborhoods, squares and districts, much like any modern city in the US. The district known as Kızılay, which I visited yesterday in search of a bookstore, is the closest thing to Times Square I have seen in Turkey, Istanbul included. While a bit more spread out than the heart of Manhattan Kızılay is a uber-busy square with a central monumental statue and any business imaginable. Bilkent University lies on the outskirts of the city in a very secure, cordoned off campus, which is much different than what I'm used to in Chicago (and in my opinion it takes something away from the university, but that might be a different post). The third aspect of the city, while a large aspect of other cities, Ataturks presence is felt here in a tremendous way. While today's ruling party might stray a good bit from his principles, his personality cult is still incredibly strong here. You absolutley cannot walk into a market, store, foodstand, club, mall, or restaurant without a picture of his magnanimous person somewhere. Turkish flags and oversized portraits are hung out of skyscrapers often. From his colossal mausoleum to the döner shop on the corner, this city, more than any other, is Ataturk's city, and it seems to me that it has stayed true to him and his vision for Turkey.
