Tag: Ankara

In a rather lovely gesture of gratitude toward the educational foundation of the Republic of Turkey, Professor Aziz Sancar donated his 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry medal and certificate to the Anıtkabir on 19 May 2016. Sancar, who received the award for his mechanistic studies of DNA repair (which sounds really rather complex to me), chose this specific date, a national holiday commemorating Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, to emphasise that his scientific success was made possible by the reforms established by the country’s founder. He explicitly stated that the medal belongs to the entire Turkish nation rather than any single faction, and it is now permanently exhibited in the Atatürk and the War of Independence Museum. While replicas were provided to Istanbul University and the University of North Carolina, the original gold medal remains at the mausoleum.

And here it is, you don’t get to see a Nobel prize every day…..

This painting rather tied together something for me that relates to the Gallipoli campaign during the First World War. The sinking of the French battleship Bouvet on 18 March 1915 stands as something of a masterclass in the lethal consequences of predictable habits. While the Allied fleet was busy redecorating the Ottoman shore batteries with heavy shells, the Bouvet struck a mine laid by the minelayer Nusret. The Ottoman crew had noticed that Allied captains possessed a rather repetitive preference for pivoting their massive vessels in the exact same patch of Erenköy Bay, and they politely provided twenty mines to facilitate the manoeuvre. Of the 710 men aboard, 639 perished, including the very brave Captain Rageot de la Touche (1858-1915), who stayed with his ship to the end.

The loss of the Bouvet, alongside the HMS Irresistible and HMS Ocean later that day, effectively convinced the Allied command that the Dardanelles would not be won by boat alone. This failure successfully traded a naval headache for the catastrophic (from the allied perspective) land campaign at Gallipoli, something which is very much part of the story of World War One.

I haven’t really read much about Turkish history in the past, but I’ve had the opportunity over the last few days to get a better understanding of the country. What a delight for blog readers….

Kâzım Orbay (1886-1964) was the quintessential ‘fixer’ of the early Turkish Republic, one of those characters where it seems that it’s the case that by staying in the military long enough, he was able to become part of the state furniture. Having survived the Balkan Wars and the First World War, he climbed the ranks to become the third Chief of the General Staff.

His tenure in that role was from 1944 to 1946 and was a masterclass in staying neutral, while the globe was tearing itself apart, Orbay’s main strategic challenge was more deciding which side’s telegrams to ignore first. Turkey had joined the Second World War in early 1945, which was arguably just a little late than was perhaps ideal.

Orbay eventually resigned following a high-profile murder scandal involving his son, proving that even though he could manage an entire national defence force, he was ultimately defeated by a teenager’s poor life choices. It’s still not entirely clear what happened in this case, but it was rather damaging to his career.

He re-emerged from retirement after the 1960 coup to serve as the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly and he presided over the drafting of the 1961 Constitution with what was likely a weary patience. He died in 1964, very much a soldier statesman who is now being remembered as one of the heroes of the Republic.

This was the highlight of my visit to Ankara, the Eternal Resting Place of Atatürk. Anıtkabir, which translates to “memorial tomb”, serves as the final resting place of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the somewhat visionary founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. Following Atatürk’s death on 10 November 1938, his remains were initially kept at the Ethnography Museum of Ankara until a suitable monument could be constructed. To select a design that reflected the grandeur of his legacy, an international competition was held, which was eventually won by Turkish architects Emin Onat and Orhan Arda.

Construction of the massive complex began in 1944 on a prominent hill then known as Rasattepe and was completed in 1953. On 10 November 1953, the fifteenth anniversary of his death, Atatürk’s casket was ceremoniously moved to the Hall of Honour within the newly finished mausoleum. It’s entirely fair to suggest that this is an enormous place for a mausoleum and it is treated with huge respect by very many Turks and it’s one of the most visited locations in the country. There’s a security process to get in, but it all feels organised and well managed.

So, given all that excitement, expect more posts on this…..

The Security Monument was commissioned during a period of rapid urban transformation in the 1930s as Ankara was being shaped into a modern capital for the young Turkish Republic. Designed by the Austrian architect Clemens Holzmeister, the project was part of a larger plan to create a civic centre in the Kızılay district of the city. Construction began in 1934 and concluded in 1935, with the primary objective of honouring the Turkish police and gendarmerie forces for their role in maintaining order and safety. It’s nice to thank those who keep the state safe.

The bronze letters on its base bear the famous instruction from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, “Türk, Öğün, Çalış, Güven” which is something like “Turk, be proud, work, and trust”. This message was intended to bolster the morale of a beleaguered population transitioning from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to a sovereign nation-state. The site sustained damage during the 15 July 2016 coup attempt which was a bloody attempt to overthrow the Turkish President but has since been repaired.

I get very excited by metro systems and so this was another new one for me. This is the walkway from the coach station to the metro station.

We didn’t have to faff about buying a ticket in the way we did on the Istanbul metro, it was all contactless. It didn’t work properly and I got charged twice (I hardly mentioned that wasted £1 to Jonathan), but we successfully got through the platform.

For anyone interested, here’s the network map. There are currently three lines and 57 stations, although it’s currently going through an expansion and more stations are being added.

It all rather reminded me of the metro system in Glasgow, although the older trains are actually modelled on the Toronto metro network. It was also clean, efficient and functional, being good value for money and even better if I had been charged once.