"Dirim's new Ankara Page" a Ankara Travel Page by Dirim

I have been living in Istanbul since September 2001. However I go to Ankara very frequently as I feel myself exile in Istanbul, as I came here not with my own wish. I moved to Istanbul as here is the only place I could find job.

Actually, I am from Ankara - the star of the steppe...

Ankara is in the centre of Anatolia on the high Anatolian steppe, at an altitude of 850 mt. The population of the city centre is 4.1 million.

The region's history goes back to Bronze-Age Hatti Civilization, which was usurped in the 2nd millenium BC by the Hittites, when the Phrygians (10th century BC); Lydians and Persians followed.

After these came the GALATIANS, a CELTIC race who were the first to make Ankara their capital (3rd century BC). It was then known as ANCYRA, meaning "Anchor".

The city subsequently fell to the Romans, Byzantines, and Seljuks under Alparslan in 1073, and then to the Ottomans under Yıldırım Beyazit in 1402, who remained in Control until First World War.

The city an important cultural, trading, and arts center in Roman times, and an important trading center on the caravan route to the east in Ottoman times had declined in imporatnce by the 19th century.

It again became an important center when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk chose it was the base from which to direct the War of Liberation. As a result of its role in the war and its strategic position, it was declared as the capital of the new Turkish Republic on October 13, 1923