Gündoğdu Square ( tr, Gündoğdu Meydanı) is a city square in

İzmir İzmir ( , ; ), also spelled Izmir, is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia, capital of the province of the same name. It is the third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara and the second largest urban agglo ...

, Turkey. Located within between the neighborhoods of

Alsancak Alsancak is a centrally situated large quarter (or a zone; ''semt'' in Turkish) in İzmir, Turkey, within the boundaries of the metropolitan district of Konak, the historic center of the city. Overview As a notional zone, Alsancak extends from ...

and Konak, it marks the center-point of the Kordon esplanade. At the center of the square is the ''Tree of the Republic Statue'' ( tr, Cumhuriyet Ağacı Heykeli) to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the

Republic of 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 ...

. Located within one of the city's two most famous parks, it is a major meeting point for people as well as staging area for political rallies and demonstrations.

History

Gündoğdu Square is one of the city's new major squares. It was built together with the Kordon esplanade in 2000. Originally, the esplanade was built with the intention of extending a 6-lane highway from Liman Avenue (connecting to the D.300) to central Konak, where it would continue to the O-32, to

Çeşme Çeşme () is a coastal town and the administrative centre of the district of the same name in Turkey's westernmost end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula that also carries the same name and that extends inland to form a whole with the ...

, in

Balçova Balçova (pronounced Balchova), is a district of Izmir Province in Turkey. It is one of the eleven districts in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Izmir, the smallest in terms of area. Balçova is a fully urbanized at the rate of 100,0 per cent an ...

. This plan was heavily opposed by many and was later converted into a park. Construction of the park and square was completed in 1999 and was officially opened to the public on 15 June 2000. In 2003 mayor

Ahmet Piriştina Ahmet Piriştina (8 April 1952 – 15 June 2004) was a Turkish politician who was Mayor of İzmir from 1999 to 2004. He was of Albanian descent. Piriştina was born in İzmir, Turkey. He was elected as Mayor of İzmir in two consecutive el ...

requested the construction of a statue to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Republic. Ferit Özşen was chosen to design a statue, which was named the ''Tree of the Republic''. Ever since the square's opening, it has been used for many political rallies by Prime Ministers and party leaders as well as political protests such as the 2007

Republic Protests The Republic Protests ( tr, ) were a series of peaceful mass rallies that took place in Turkey in 2007 in support of a strict principle of state secularism. The first rally took place in Ankara on 14 April 2007, just two days before the start ...

. Similar to

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Gündoğdu Square is the primary meeting point in İzmir for the annual

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

celebrations.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=http://www.izmirmag.net/2016/04/dunden-bugune-kordonun-gecirdigi.html , title=Dünden Bugüne Kordon'un Geçirdiği Evrimin Hikayesi , website=izmirmag.net , language=Turkish , date=27 April 2016 , access-date=12 January 2018 {{cite web, url=http://www.egemeclisi.com/haber/19987/gundogdudaki-anitin-yaraticisi-ozsen-eserini-anlatti.html , title=Gündoğdu'daki anıtın yaratıcısı Özşen, eserini anlattı , website=egemeclisi.com , language=Turkish , date=24 May 2015 , access-date=12 January 2018 Squares in İzmir Konak District

History

See also

References