Ankara, Turkey : a modern face

Ankara is the capital of Turkey.  It is more centrally located in the country than Istanbul which is in the north western side.  General Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Father of modern Turkey, led the Turkish nationalist movement from Ankara.  The Republic of Turkey was found in 1923 with Ankara as its capital.  

Since then, Ankara underwent rapid development with many government and commercial establishments.  Its population has grown from less than one hundred thousand to about five million.  Modern architectures and high rise apartments shoot up in the city.  You can find more western style shopping malls here than other cities in Turkey.

(Students attending out-door class in the hall of a shopping mall)



(Beautiful sky dome of the shopping mall)

When you are in Ankara, you can visit the Ataturk Mausoleum.  It is the memorial tomb of the Father of Turkey.  It also serves as the modern national history museum. 


(Ataturk Mausoleum)

There are exhibits on battles fought by modern Turkey and its national building efforts.  One of the exhibits is for the battle of Canakkale.  General Ataturk led the Turkish soldiers and local residents to defend the Commonwealth forces from landing in Canakkale at the entrance of the Sea of Marmara. Thousands and thousands of lives from both sides were lost in the battle. This included many young Australians who came a long way to fight for the Commonwealth forces.  It reminds me of my visit to the Sydney Rose Garden fifteen years ago.  Near the entrance, there is a memorial statue for their lost souls in this battle.