Dictionary of islamic architecture

Ankara (Ancyra)
Capital of Republic of Turkey set in the centre of the
Anatolian plain.
During the ninth century Anatolia was subject to a
number of Arab raids, the most serious of which
occupied Ankara for a short period. However, the
city was not finally captured until 1071 when it fell
to the Seljuk Turks. The oldest surviving mosque in
the city is the Aslan Cami built out of wooden
columns and reused classical and Byzantine stones.
In 1402 the Ottomans suffered a major setback at
Ankara when they were defeated by Timur. During
the seventeenth century the city was considered to
be one of the more important business centres with
its own purpose-built bedestan (now the Museum
of Anatolian Civilizations). Ankara has some
interesting examples of Ottoman domestic
architecture with houses built out of wooden frames
filled in with brickwork. However, for most of the
Ottoman period the city was of minor importance
and only rose to prominence when Mustafa Kemal
Attatürk chose the city as the site for Turkey’s new
capital. As a planned city Ankara has some of the
best examples of Turkish Republican architecture
which is a heavy monolithic architecture reminiscent
of Eastern Europe under Communism. The
architecture of this period is tempered by conscious
references to a Turkish past which include large
overhanging eaves and simplified Seljuk-type
stonework. Prominent examples of this architecture
are the railway station and the offices of the Turkish
historical society.
See also:
Ottomans, Seljuks, Turkey
Further reading:
H.M.Akok, 
Ankari
nin Eski Evleri,
Ankara 1951.
R.Holod and A.Evin, 
Modern Turkish Architecture,
Philadelphia 1984.
G.Öney, 
Ankara
da Türk Devri Yapilari (Turkish Period
Buildings in Ankara),
Ankara 1971.