Abdi İpekçi Arena, formerly known as Abdi İpekçi Sports Complex, was a multi-purpose

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

located in the

Zeytinburnu Zeytinburnu (literally, ''Olive Cape'') is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 12 km2, and its population is 292,616 (2022). It is a working-class area on the European side of Istanbul, T ...

district of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, situated just outside the ancient city walls, in Yedikule.

History

Designed in 1979, and opened on 3 June 1989, after several years of interrupted construction, it was named after the renowned Turkish journalist

Abdi İpekçi Abdi İpekçi (9 August 1929 – 1 February 1979) was a Turkish journalist, intellectual and human rights activist. He was murdered when he was editor-in-chief of one of the main Turkish daily newspapers '' Milliyet'' which then had a cent ...

. It was the primary basketball venue in Istanbul for two decades and hosted many (mostly the international) games of Istanbul's four top basketball clubs Anandolu Efes, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Besiktas, as well as many other sports events and concerts. However, its significance declined after the opening of

Sinan Erdem Dome The Sinan Erdem Dome (), formerly known as the Ataköy Dome, is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Ataköy, Bakırköy on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey. It has a seating capacity of 22,500 for concerts. For the sport of bas ...

in 2010, which surpassed Abdi İpekçi Arena as the biggest and most state of the art arena in Istanbul.

Closure

After the 2016/2017 season, the arena was closed. It got demolished in early 2018. In its place, a basketball training and performance center was built. Basketball teams Anadolu Efes and Galatasaray played their games at

beginning with the 2017/18 season, after which both returned to the newly built Basketball Development Center in 2024. Galatasaray also plans to move into a newly built own arena in the coming years. Fenerbahçe already moved into their own

Ülker Sports Arena Ülker is a Turkish multinational corporation, multinational food and beverage manufacturer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Its products are exported internationally, to 110 countries. Ülker's core products are biscuits, cookies, crackers, and choc ...

in 2012.

Facilities

The

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

had an audience

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 12,270. It hosted national and international sports events, such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

, and

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

, as well as

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

s and

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

es, among other events. The facility contained a multi-faced visual scoreboard, six online-system counters, four locker rooms, two internet rooms, a press room, two multi-purpose offices, VIP rooms, etc. Its parking lot had a capacity of 1,500 cars.

Events

The professional basketball teams of Galatasaray men's basketball team and Galatasaray women's basketball team played their

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

home matches since the 2009–10 season in the Abdi İpekçi Arena. Some of the notable events, which took place in the arena are: *

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

FIBA European League

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

FIBA European Cup Final * 1996 FIBA EuroStars * 1997 Girl Power! Live in Istanbul * 2001

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

concert Exciter Tour * EuroBasket 2001 Final phase * 2004 Eurovision Song Contest * 2005

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

Concert * 2007

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican label Fonovisa where he released three Spanish albums ''Enrique Iglesias (album), Enrique ...

Concert *

2009 European Short Course Swimming Championships The 2009 European Short Course Swimming Championships was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 December 2009. A temporary swimming pool was built within the Abdi İpekçi Arena. The event was held over four days with: heats, ...

* 2009 Men's European Volleyball Championship *

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the List of men's national basketball teams, men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 Septem ...

* 2011 European Judo Championships *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

EuroLeague Women Final Eight * 2014

FIBA World Championship for Women The FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, also known as the Basketball World Cup for Women or simply the FIBA Women's World Cup, is an international basketball tournament for women's national teams held quadrennially. It was created by the Internati ...

References

External links