Ankara

We arrived in the capital city of Turkey today.  Ankara is a very modern city which has grown since becoming the capital when Turkey gained its independence in 1928 under the guidance of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Our guide, Berna is passionate about the role Ataturk (his name, "Ataturk" was given him by the Turkish people and means Great Turk) played in the reformation of Turkey after gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire.

Ataturk is buried in a huge Mauseleum.  As President for 15 years, until his death in 1938, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced a broad range of swift and sweeping reforms - in the political, social, legal, economic, and cultural spheres.