Ankara’s founding story takes stage in Istanbul

Welcome to Al-Monitor Istanbul.

This week, just before Oct. 13 — the date Ankara became the capital of Turkey more than a century ago — we revisit the century-long dialogue between Ankara and Istanbul, from the young republic’s austere new capital to the empire’s enduring seat of power.

Our story begins with an exhibition that revisits how a city was built from scratch, continues with a book on its first First Lady, and concludes with figures from both history and diplomacy.

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Thanks for reading,

Nazlan (@NazlanEr on X)

P.S. Have tips on Istanbul’s culture scene? Send them my way at nertan@al-monitor.com.

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1. Leading the week: 'Constructing a City' in the city that lost the capital

Mud, lots of it. Photos from “Constructing a City: Ankara 1923-1933,” (Photo courtesy of VEKAM)

It takes a special sense of irony to stage an exhibition on Ankara’s founding years in Istanbul, the very city stripped of its capital crown. In 1923, the new republic marched off to Anatolia’s dusty plateau, leaving Istanbul with its palaces, domes and a lingering hope that the government would one day return. A century later, Ankara is still in charge and now parades its origin story in the former imperial seat.

Curators Ali and Muge Cengizkan have spent nearly two decades sifting through archives, blueprints, diaries and city plans to tell a story that redrew Turkey’s geography of power. Their exhibition, “Constructing a City: Ankara 1923-1933,” now at Muze Gazhane, charts how the fledgling republic built itself a capital and, in the process, a new identity.

With more than 350 photographs, models, maps and films, the exhibition reconstructs Ankara’s first decade as a living laboratory of modernity. Visitors trace the birth of Yenisehir, where German planner Carl Christoph Lorcher designed boulevards and housing for hundreds of incoming bureaucrats and politicians. One oft-told myth from those years involves Latife, the well-born wife of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was reportedly so alarmed by Ankara’s lack of refinement that she sent urgent word to Izmir, her hometown, for tablecloths and curtains.

Opening of the exhibition at Gazhane. (Photo courtesy of VEKAM)

In the exhibition, the voices of writer Halide Edip Adivar and early foreign correspondents echo through re-created rooms and a film corner screening “The Heart of Turkey.”

“It took 16 years of research to reach this point,” noted Ali Cengizkan at the opening, recalling the thousands of documents unearthed before a single wall was designed. Muge Cengizkan adds that Ankara’s transformation became a “model of modern urban planning,” later mirrored across Anatolian cities.

Supported by the Vehbi Koc Foundation and Koc University VEKAM, the project received the 2022 National Architecture Award from Turkey’s Chamber of Architects, honoring its research on architectural works that have long vanished from the cityscape.

📍 Where: Kurbagalidere Cd. No:125 Hasanpasa, Kadikoy

🗓️ When: Until March 2026

2. Word on the street: Ethique

Asli Saglam in front of her patisserie. (Photo courtesy of Ethique)

“My mind is like a computer that’s always trying to re-create taste and texture with vegan ingredients,” Asli Saglam told me, offering a table of croissants without butter and madeleines without eggs. Welcome to Ethique, Kadikoy’s sleek, plant-based restaurant where ethics meet indulgence. Designed in warm wood and terrazzo calm, it’s a culinary atelier of lentil-caviar tartlets, smoked aubergine pasta and kombucha cocktails. “Some of our best customers aren’t even vegan,” says Saglam.

📍 Where: Volkan Sokak Pirlanta Sitesi B Blok No:1/1D Kadikoy

3. Istanbul diary

Anne von Freyburg’s “Who’s Bad,” inspired by Fragonard’s Venus with Cupid (Photo courtesy of Ruzy Gallery)

Ruzy Gallery opens its new season with “Formative,” curated by Thom Oosterhof, bringing together international artists whose works explore the intuitive and transformative dialogue between artist and material. Til Nov. 2.

Arter’s “Privilege for Sound” film program, curated by Karen Cirillo, turns hearing into a cinematic act. Screenings include Sam Green’s “32 Sounds,” Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s “Diary of a Sky” and Oksana Karpovych’s “Intercepted.” Between Oct. 17-19. Tickets and info here.

The Istanbul Arts and Culture Festival (IST. Festival) marks its 15th year under the theme “What is really real?” turning the city into a playground of ideas Oct. 10-12. Spanning talks, film screenings and exhibitions across multiple venues, the festival gathers an eclectic lineup, from artist Jeff Koons to musician-activist Gaye Su Akyol. Program and registry here.