The Cebeci Asri Cemetery ( tr, Cebeci Asri Mezarlığı) is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

located in the Cebeci quarter of central

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

serving multiple religions. It was the first modern burial place in the capital city, and is the final resting place of many prominent figures. As of 2005, the total number of graves in the Cebeci Asri Cemetery was 220,000, with 121,000 for males and 99,000 for females. The burial rate was two per day. Administered by the municipality, it is the second largest cemetery in Ankara after Karşıyaka Cemetery.

Locating graves

In 2000, the Metropolitan Municipality of Ankara completed an information system (MEBİS) allowing visitors to search and locate a given person's grave within the three main cemeteries of Ankara.

Computer terminal A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. The teletype was an example of an early-day hard-copy terminal a ...

s in

interactive kiosk An interactive kiosk is a computer terminal featuring specialized hardware and software that provides access to information and applications for communication, commerce, entertainment, or education. By 2010, the largest bill pay kiosk network ...

s placed at the entrance of the

enable visitors to quickly find the location of their relatives' graves. The system also shows the shortest path to graves on a cemetery plan.

Improper burials

Most graves in the cemetery have an east-west alignment, as Muslims are buried facing southeast towards

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow val ...

in accordance with Islamic law. Members of other religious groups, such as

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

and

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, are buried in Cebeci Asri Cemetery with a north-south orientation. Someone discovered that about ten thousand Muslims are buried with the incorrect north-south alignment. The director of cemeteries in Ankara announced that the mistake was made fifteen years ago, and could no longer be corrected. Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, the country's highest Islamic institution, supported this determination. It ruled that correction of the orientation of the graves would be disrespectful to the dead, and therefore unnecessary.

Notable burials

Listed in alphabetical order of family names. * Makbule Atadan (1887–1956), sister of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal, revolutionary statesman, author, and the founding father of the Rep ...

Erkut Akbay The assassination of Erkut Akbay refers to the murder of the Turkish administrative attache, Erkut Akbay, 40, in Lisbon, where the diplomat was serving, on 7 June 1982. Akbay was assassinated near his home on the outskirts of the city as he returne ...

(?–1982), diplomat assassinated along with his wife Nadide by a car bomb at the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon in 1982Erkut Akbay
at Find a Grave. * Osman Bölükbaşı (1913–2002), politician *

Mehmet Cavit Bey Mehmet Cavit Bey, Mehmed Cavid Bey or Mehmed Djavid Bey ( ota, محمد جاوید بك; 1875 – 26 August 1926) was an Ottoman economist, newspaper editor and leading politician during the dissolution period of the Ottoman Empire. A founding me ...

(1875–1926), economist, newspaper editor and politician *

İlhan Cavcav İlhan Cavcav (4 October 1935 – 22 January 2017) was the chairman of Turkish club Gençlerbirliği in Ankara, Turkey for almost 40 years until his death. He was known for his hard negotiation tactics with the big clubs in Turkey and scouting ab ...

(1935–2017), chairman of Gençlerbirliği *

Nazlı Ecevit Fatma Nazlı Ecevit (4 January 1900 – 14 August 1985) was a Turkish school teacher and a realist-impressionist painter. She was the mother of Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit. Early life Fatma Nazlı Ecevit was born in Istanbul, as Constantin ...

(1900–1985), female school teacher and painter. Mother of four times Prime Minister

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist, who served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 1 ...

* Nusret Fişek (1914–1990), academic and civil servant in public health *

Tunalı Hilmi Abdullah Hilmi Tunalı (28 August 187126 July 1928) was a Turkish politician, member of the Chamber of Deputies, and later member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd terms. He was a politician and statesman wh ...

(1871 –1928), politician * Tevfik İleri (1911–1961), politician and government minister *

Mevhibe İnönü Mevhibe İnönü (September 22, 1897 – February 29, 1992) was the First Lady of Turkey from November 11, 1938 until May 27, 1950 during the presidency of her husband İsmet İnönü. Early years She was born on September 22, 1897 at Süleyman ...

(1897–1992), wife of the second President

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three ti ...

Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu (also rendered Yakub Kadri; ; 27 March 1889 – 13 December 1974) was a Turkish novelist, journalist, diplomat, and member of parliament.Edebiyatogretmeni.net ''Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu'' Google translated' Biograph ...

(1880–1974), writer *

Uğur Mumcu Uğur Mumcu (; 22 August 1942 – 24 January 1993)
um:ag was a

Uğur Mumcu
at Find a Grave. *

Mammed Amin Rasulzade Mahammad Amin Akhund Haji Mulla Alekber oghlu Rasulzade ( az, Мәһәммәд Әмин Ахунд Һаҹы Молла Әләкбәр оғлу Рәсулзадә, italic=no, Məhəmməd Əmin Axund Hacı Molla Ələkbər oğlu Rəsulzadə, ; tr ...

, founding father of

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian Az ...

Abdülhalik Renda Mustafa Abdülhalik Renda (29 November 1881 – 1 October 1957) was a Turkish civil servant and politician of Tosk Albanian descent. Biography Renda was born in Yanya, in the Janina Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. Renda was of Albanian origi ...

(1881–1957), politician * Aydın Sayılı (1913–1993], historian of science. *

Faruk Sükan Faruk Sükan (1921 – 3 January 2005) was a Turkish physician, politician and government minister. Biography Sükan was born in Karaman. In 1946, he graduated from the School of Medicine at Istanbul University. After practicing as a Doctor of ...

(1921–2005), physician, politician and government minister *

Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (born Hüseyin Cahit; October 4, 1910 – October 13, 1956) was a Turkish poet and author. Biography Tarancı belonged to a well known clan family of Diyarbekir (present day: Diyarbakır) like his father Pirinçç ...

(1910–1956), poetMinistry of Tourism
*

Bahriye Üçok Bahriye Üçok (1919 – October 6, 1990) was a Turkish academic of theology, left-wing politician, writer, columnist, and women's rights activist whose assassination in 1990 remains unresolved. Early life and education Born in Trabzon, Bahriye � ...

(1919–1990), assassinated journalist *

Hasan Âli Yücel Hasan Âli Yücel (17 December 1897 - 26 February 1961) was a Turkish education reformer and philosophy teacher who served as minister of national education of Turkey from December 1938 to August 1946. He is remembered for the foundation of Vill ...

(1897–1961), poet, politician and former government ministerJournal ''Chicken Bones''
/ref>

References

{{coord, 39.9481, N, 32.8890, E, source:wikidata, display=title Cemeteries in Ankara