July 15 Kızılay National Will Square ( tr, 15 Temmuz Kızılay Millî İrade Meydanı), originally Kızılay Square (''Kızılay Meydanı''), is one of the most important centers and junction points of

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 ...

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 ...

Geography

The square at is the intersection of two major boulevards.

Atatürk Boulevard Atatürk Boulevard ( tr, Atatürk Bulvarı) is the most important avenue in Ankara, Turkey. Geography The boulevard runs about in the south to north direction. At the southernmost point it intersects with Çankaya Boulevard and at the northern ...

( tr, Atatürk Bulvarı) running from south to north is popularly called the "Protocol Road". The east part of the other boulevard is named Ziya Gökalp Boulevard (formerly Kazım Özalp Boulevard) and the west part is named

Gazi Mustafa Kemal Boulevard Gazi Mustafa Kemal Boulevard, abbreviated as GMK Boulevard, is a major avenue in Mersin, Turkey. It is named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938), the founder of Turkish Republic. Geography The boulevard is a part of the state highway , whe ...

. Kahramanlar Business Center (formerly Kızılay Emek Business Center) is situated to the southeast and

Güven Park Güven may refer to: Given name * Aydın Güven Gürkan (1941 – 2006), academician and politician * Güven Çavuş (born 1993), Turkish footballer * Güven Güneri (born 1987), Turkish footballer * Güven Gürsoy (born 1992), Turkish footballe ...

is situated to the southwest of the square. The ''Kızılay AVM'' shopping mall, which replaced the former ''Kızılay'' (Turkish Red Crescent) headquarters, is situated to the northwest.

History

The square was named ''Kızılay'' (meaning "

Red Crescent The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

" in Turkish) after the

Turkish Red Crescent Turkish Red Crescent (Turkish: ''Türk Kızılay'' (official) or ''Kızılay'' (for short)) is the largest humanitarian organization in Turkey and is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The organization was founded i ...

headquarters, which was built on its northwest in 1929. The Red Crescent building was demolished in 1993 and replaced by the present-day ''Kızılay AVM'' shopping mall, which – after a long legal process regarding its ownership rights – was opened in 2011.) In those years, the city center was located to the north of Kızılay, but Ankara was redesigned by a group of urban planners including

Hermann Jansen Hermann Jansen (28 May 1869 in Aachen – 20 February 1945 in Berlin) was a German architect, urban planner and university educator. Early life, study and work Hermann Jansen was born in 1869, the son of the pastry chef Francis Jansen and his wif ...

. After the development of the new quarters, the center of the city eventually shifted toward the neighborhoods around the square, and in fact those quarters are now known as Kızılay. After the 27 May 1960 coup d'état it was formally renamed as ''Liberty Square'' (''Hürriyet Meydanı''); but the popular use of Kızılay Square continued. Following the failed coup attempt of 15 July 2016, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality initially decided on 26 July 2016 to rename the square as ''July 15 Kızılay Democracy Square'' (''15 Temmuz Kızılay Demokrasi Meydanı''), which was later amended as ''July 15 Kızılay National Will Square'' on 9 August 2016. It is still commonly known as Kızılay Square among the resident population of the city.

Transportation

Kızılay is a stop in the routes of most of the

public bus Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...

es operating both in the south–north and east–west directions. Kızılay is also the terminus of the M1 and M2 lines of the

Ankara Metro The Ankara Metro ( tr, Ankara Metrosu) is the rapid transit system serving Ankara, the capital of Turkey. At present, Ankara's rapid transit system consists of two metro lines – the ''Batıkent Metrosu (M1)''and the new ''Keçiören Metrosu (M4 ...

. The station of the

Ankaray Ankaray, designated as the A1, is a long rapid transit line of the Ankara Metro system in Ankara, Turkey. Opened in 1996, it is the oldest rapid transit line in Ankara and the second oldest in Turkey after the M1 line of the Istanbul Metro. An ...

light rail is located below the metro terminal. Kızılay is a central station of Ankaray which connects the northeast of Ankara to the west of the city center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kizilay Meydani Squares in Ankara Çankaya, Ankara

Geography

History

Transportation

See also

References