Ankara in the Works of Ercüment Ekrem Talu

Abstract

Ankara has been frequently visited by many intellectuals since it became an important cultural center after the founding of the Republic. While some of these intellectuals came to the city on official missions, and some came just to see the new capital, there are many different accounts of their observations. One intellectual who visited Ankara is Ercüment Ekrem Talu. In this article, 20 examples of Ercüment Ekrem’s writing about Ankara, as well as one poem, are evaluated to gauge his impressions of the city. 12 of these works are currently neglected in the current literature on Ercüment Ekrem. This series of texts, the earliest of which dates back to 1928, was published upon their completion in 1939, while Ercüment Ekrem’s first visit to Ankara was in 1920. We can therefore conclude that these texts provide a general account of the transformation of Ankara from 1920 to 1940, and that the texts of Ercüment Ekrem are clearly an important source for the history of both Ankara and the Republic.

Keywords

• ercüment ekrem talu
• ankara palas
• yenişehir
• republic
• capital
• ankara