Atatürk Cumhuriyet Kulesi

The Atatürk Republic Tower is a reinforced concrete tower rising in the Güçlükaya neighbourhood of Keçiören, built by the Keçiören Municipality. It is 197 metres tall and has become a landmark on Ankara's northern skyline, visible from almost every direction in the city. The tower was designed by the architect Ragıp Buluç, who also designed Atakule in Çankaya. As a result, the two observation towers at the southern and northern ends of the capital carry the signature of the same architect. The story of the building is a construction process of more than twenty years. The first tender for the tower was held in 2002, its foundation stone was laid on 18 July 2003, and it was originally meant to be finished in April 2004. In 2005 the contractor's agreement was terminated, and legal processes concerning the zoning plan and the building permit followed. According to news sources, construction was also halted for a long time because the structure exceeded the flight obstacle limit. The zoning plan was amended in 2018, and a new construction tender was held on 10 April 2020. The tower opened on 18 March 2024, the anniversary of the Çanakkale naval victory. Seen from a distance, the tower consists of a slender white shaft topped by a glass-clad crown. Round balconies project from the shaft along its height, and a dark strip runs the full length of one side of the facade. The summit of the tower is crowned with the Seljuk star, regarded as one of the shared motifs of Turkish culture. Thanks to its lighting and LED screen system, the building was also designed to act as a landmark visible from afar in the evening. On the Keçiören Municipality's project page, the tower is described as a centre for culture, art, sport and performance. The project includes a wedding hall, a revolving restaurant, a cafeteria, an exhibition hall, a planetarium, a sports hall and a covered car park. Besides open and enclosed observation terraces, a revolving platform on the tower is intended to offer visitors a view over Ankara. Opening reports also list an art gallery, a library, a space terrace and a science centre among the sections of the tower. The part of the tower in regular use today is the Atatürk Republic Tower Centenary Public Library, which opened on 2 December 2024. The library is on the tower's first basement floor and has a total reading capacity of one hundred and forty six people across its adult and children's sections. Its collection holds about twenty thousand books, ranging from literature to science and from the arts to children's books. Anyone can become a member with an identity card, and members may borrow books for fifteen days and extend the loan once. Wireless internet access is also provided for readers. Whether the observation terrace and the upper floors of the tower are open to visitors may change from period to period. Before you go, be sure to check current visiting information and opening hours with the Keçiören Municipality. Even if you cannot go up to the terrace, the surroundings of the tower and the square at its foot are a worthwhile stop for grasping the building's scale. The best angle for photographs is found a little way from the tower. If you want to capture the shaft rising above the rooftops, walk the surrounding streets and look for a gap where the whole structure fits into the frame. Afternoon light makes the white shaft glow, while in the evening the lighting comes on. Because of Keçiören's hilly terrain, the tower appears at the end of many of the district's sloping streets. The tower stands about three hundred metres from the Estergon Castle Turkish Cultural Centre, and the two stops can be combined on the same walk. To arrive by public transport, Belediye station on the M4 Keçiören metro line is the nearest option; from the station the tower is reached on a walk of about seven hundred metres. The walk is uphill, so it is worth wearing comfortable shoes. On the same day, the Keçiören Botanical Park and Cable Car and the Meteorology Museum can easily be added.