Etimesgut or Etimesut, formerly Ahimesut, is a metropolitan district of
Ankara Province
Ankara Province ( tr, , ) is a province of Turkey with the capital city Ankara.
Demographics
History
The site of the modern city has been home to settlements by many historic Anatolian civilizations in antiquity and classical times, in ...
in the
Central Anatolia
The Central Anatolia Region ( tr, İç Anadolu Bölgesi) is a geographical region of Turkey. The largest city in the region is Ankara. Other big cities are Konya, Kayseri, Eskişehir, Sivas, and Aksaray.
Located in Central Turkey, it is borde ...
region of Turkey, mainly consisting of large public housing projects, from
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, maki ...
city centre. According to 2010 census, the population of Etimesgut is 386,879. The district covers an area of , and the average elevation is .
History
Archaeological research shows habitation since 2000 BC, including a
Phrygian settlement in the 8th century BC. Then of course the district began to share the history of the city of Ankara with its
Lydians
The Lydians (known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an Indo-European language of the ...
,
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
ns,
Galatians,
Ancient Romans
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 ...
,
Byzantines and finally
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
. Etimesgut is on the ancient
Silk Road to the orient, and still today the road and railway from Ankara to
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
pass through the district.
Atatürk was fond of the area and would come here to ride horses and chat to the locals. He had a room in the building that is the public health laboratory today, and many other public buildings, including the hospital and the post office, that were built by his order still stand today.
Etimesgut began as a housing project of 50 homes ordered by Atatürk in 1924 to accommodate
Turkish refugees from
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. From the 1950s, as poverty forced people to migrate from the countryside into the city much illegal housing
gecekondu
Gecekondu (Turkish for ''put up overnight'', plural gecekondular) is a Turkish word meaning a house put up quickly without proper permissions, a squatter's house, and by extension, a shanty or shack. Gecekondu bölgesi is a neighborhood made o ...
was thrown up in this district. Some of this has been replaced by public housing projects such as Elvankent,
Eryaman
Eryaman is a neighbourhood of Etimesgut district in Ankara, Turkey. It is located 28 km west of the city centre of Ankara. Population of the neighbourhood is around 150,000.
See also
* Güzelkent, Etimesgut
Güzelkent (literally "beautiful cit ...
and
Güzelkent and also military and civil service accommodation. However much ''gecekondu'' remains, inhabited by working-class people from cities such as
Erzurum
Erzurum (; ) is a city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010.
The city uses the double-headed eagle as ...
, many of whom commute to jobs in the city of Ankara.
The Islamic terrorist organisation
Hizbullah
Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's paramili ...
had a number of hidden cells here in the 1990s.
Present
The area has only the most basic shops and amenities. Almost all of the housing in Etimesgut is apartment buildings except for the Güzelkent project. As building land in the city of Ankara is now impossible to find, areas like this on the fringes of the city, where building land is cheap, are growing faster and faster.
Public buildings include the sugar factory, the Turkish aviation authority headquarters at Etimesgut Airport and a military training camp.
The local football team
Etimesgut Şekerspor
Turanspor is a sports club in located in 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 ...
has a chequered history; in recent years it has gained popularity by hiring former national team player
Sergen Yalçın.
Demographics
Planned security campus
The construction of a new building in Etimesgut is underway, to serve as the joint new headquarters of the Turkish
National Intelligence Organization (MİT), the
Ministry of National Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
, and the
Turkish General Staff together with the commands of the Army, Navy and Air Force branches of the
Turkish Armed Forces
The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...
. Reportedly, the move, which will turn the area into a "security campus" comparable to the
US Pentagon
The Pentagon is the Headquarters (military), headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military, the ...
, is part of measures taken after the failed
2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt
On 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted to seize cont ...
.
Neighborhoods
Former broadcasting site
At Etimesgut, there was a longwave broadcasting station with two masts each 256 metres tall, which worked on 198 kHz. The station, whose masts stood at and at was built in 1938 and shut-down in 2004 and was afterwards demolished.
Places of interest
*
Ankara Aviation Museum
See also
*
Eryaman
Eryaman is a neighbourhood of Etimesgut district in Ankara, Turkey. It is located 28 km west of the city centre of Ankara. Population of the neighbourhood is around 150,000.
See also
* Güzelkent, Etimesgut
Güzelkent (literally "beautiful cit ...
*
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, maki ...
Image gallery
File:Guzelkent ev1.JPG,
File:Guzelkent ev 3.JPG,
File:Guzelkent ilkiz1.JPG,
File:Guzelkent evler8.JPG,
File:Eryaman 3. etapson.JPG,
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
District governor's official website
District municipality's official website
{{Portal bar, Geography, Turkey
Populated places in Ankara Province
Illegal housing