Etimesgut or Etimesut, formerly Ahimesut, is a metropolitan district of Ankara Province 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 b ...

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

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empir ...

n 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 th ...

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,

Galatia Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace ...

ns,

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 (753–50 ...

, Byzantines and finally Turks. Etimesgut is on the ancient

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and rel ...

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 of ...

was thrown up in this district. Some of this has been replaced by public housing projects such as Elvankent, Eryaman and Güzelkent and also military and civil service accommodation. However much ''gecekondu'' remains, inhabited by working-class people from cities such as Erzurum, many of whom commute to jobs in the city of Ankara. The Islamic terrorist organisation Hizbullah 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 has a chequered history; in recent years it has gained popularity by hiring former national team player

Sergen Yalçın Ali Rıza Sergen Yalçın (born 5 November 1972), known as Sergen Yalçın, is a Turkish football commentator, coach and former international footballer who played as a midfielder. Coming through the Beşiktaş Youth Infrastructure which he e ...

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 The National Intelligence Organization ( tr, Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) is the state intelligence agency of Turkey. Established in 1965 to replace National Security Service, its aim is to gather information about the current and po ...

(MİT), the Ministry of National Defence, and the

Turkish General Staff , image = , image_size = 160px , caption = Emblem of the General Staff , dates = 3 May 1920 – present , country = , allegiance ...

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 Chie ...

. Reportedly, the move, which will turn the area into a "security campus" comparable to the US Pentagon, is part of measures taken after the failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.

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 Ankara Aviation Museum ( tr, Ankara Hava Müzesi) is a military-based museum for aviation, owned and operated by the Turkish Air Force. The museum is located in Etimesgut district of Ankara, Turkey. The area of the museum is . Location and access ...

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

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External links

District governor's official website

District municipality's official website
{{Portal bar, Geography, Turkey Populated places in Ankara Province Illegal housing