ANKARA

ANKARA

The city of Ankara lies in the center of Anatolia on the eastern edge of the great, high Anatolian Plateau, at an altitude of 850 meters. It is the center of the province of the same name, which Is a predominantly fertile wheat steppeland with forested areas in its northeast region. It is bordered by the provinces of Cankiri and Bolu to the north, Eskisehir to the west, Konya and Aksaray to the south, and Kirikkale and Kirsehir to the east. The region's history goes back to the Bronze Age, Hatti Civilization, which was succeeded in the 2nd millennium BC by the Hittites, then the Phrygians (10th century BC); Lydians and Persians followed. After these came the Galatians, a Celtic race who were the first to make Ankara their capital (3rd century BC). It was then known as Ancyra, meaning anchor. The town subsequently fell to the Romans, Byzantines, and

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Selcuks under Alpaslan in 1073, and then to the Ottomans under Yildirim Beyazit in 1402, who remained in control until the First World War. The town, once an important trading center on the caravan route to the east, had declined in importance by the nineteenth century. It became an important center again when Kemal Atat?ose it as the base from which to direct the War of Liberation. In consequence of its role in the war and its strategic position, it was declared the capital of the new Turkish Republic on the 13th October,1923

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