Çankaya's Green Corridor from Dikmen Valley to Kurtuluş Park

Enter the valley from the south, on the Dikmen side, and follow the stream north towards Ayrancı; the rest of the route continues from that end. Until 1989 this was a stream bed covered with squatter housing. The Dikmen Valley Urban Regeneration and Development Project, decided that year, is regarded as Turkey's first regeneration scheme for a squatter district; the first stage was finished in the mid 1990s, the second in 2002, the third in 2009, and the final stage is still under way. For a visitor the most meaningful part of the design is that the old stream bed was placed at the centre of the landscape rather than buried: the ponds and waterfalls follow the natural flow of water, and rain is allowed to reach the soil.

Across roughly 70 hectares there is a 3 kilometre walking trail, two high bridges spanning the valley, a viewing terrace and a climbing wall; Wikipedia counts more than 120,000 trees and close to fifty plant species. Many come in spring for the cherry blossom; autumn leaves and winter snow turn the same path into a different place. Because the valley floor sits in a hollow, midday heat collects here in summer, so walk early or late and carry water.

Climbing onto one of the bridges and seeing the valley end to end is the quickest way to grasp the scale of the project. The apartment blocks on both sides are part of it too: housing built for former residents stands next to blocks sold to higher income buyers. Entry is free and the park is lit at night. Leaving from the northern end, the climb through Ayrancı to the Çankaya ridge begins.

Source: Wikipedia (TR ve EN); Yeni Ankara; ANFA.

After the climb from Ayrancı, Botanik Park begins on the slope between Çankaya Avenue and Cinnah Avenue. Established in 1970, the park covers 65,000 square metres; the breakdown given by Wikipedia shows nearly half of it as lawn, a quarter as woodland and a 1,330 square metre pool at the centre; around 15,000 square metres are hard surface, that is paths and squares. The central pond, the children's garden and the flower greenhouse are its main parts. The name says botanic, but Wikipedia describes it as a city park; come to see the wooded section and the greenhouse rather than expecting a labelled scientific collection.

On this route Botanik Park serves as a pause and a change of perspective. After the wide, new and flat floor of Dikmen Valley, this place is sloping, narrow and full of older trees. Twenty years separate the two; a park opened in 1970 shows how differently the valley project begun in 1989 was conceived in scale. This slope below the Çankaya Mansion is the tree-covered outcome of Jansen's decision to grow the city southwards towards Çankaya.

For those arriving from the climb, the benches by the pool are a good place to rest, and there is plenty of tree shade at midday. The link to Seğmenler Park is short: Seğmenler continues the same slope and is reached by walking down on the Çankaya Avenue side. Treating the two parks as a single green strip rather than two separate visits makes the middle of the day easier.

Source: Wikipedia (Ankara Botanik Parkı).

Seğmenler lies on a 67,000 square metre slope between Atatürk Boulevard and İran Avenue, below the Çankaya Mansion. Its design by Selami Sözer came out of a competition held by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality for the centenary of Atatürk's birth in 1981, and the park opened two years later, on 10 October 1983. The Kavaklıdere stream runs through its middle, and that is what matters for this route: after Botanik, this is the second time you see a stream valley laid out as a park. What Jansen wanted for İncesu and Bentderesi, keeping the valley free of building and green, happened here on a small scale.

The park has pools, a children's garden and an amphitheatre; according to Wikipedia the amphitheatre once hosted TRT programmes and pop concerts. Look for two sculptures as you walk. The Seğmenler Monument by Burhan Alkar shows mounted seğmen riders with flags; the park takes its name from this figure of Ankara folklore. A bronze by İlhan Koman installed in 1992 was stolen in 2016 and replaced in 2018. The sculptures are not signposted, so ask as you climb from the lower entrance.

Because it is a slope, entering at the top and walking down is easier, which is what you do coming from Botanik. Once you reach Atatürk Boulevard at the bottom, the route turns north through Kuğulu Park and Kavaklıdere towards Kızılay. That stretch is flat and paved, with little shade; bring a hat for a summer afternoon.

Source: Wikipedia (Seğmenler Parkı).

Walking north from Kızılay along Atatürk Boulevard brings you to Sıhhiye Square; the Sıhhiye station of the M1 metro lies beneath the boulevard and the park is right beside it. Abdi İpekçi Park opened in 1981; it was previously called Yenişehir Park and was renamed in memory of the journalist Abdi İpekçi. Sources give its area as between 33,000 and 37,000 square metres. Broad lawns, an ornamental pool, a tea garden and a children's playground make it one of the few large green spaces in the heart of the city centre. The park was fully redesigned in 2023; it is run by ANFA, the municipality's park company, and has a public toilet.

Its emblem is the bronze Hands sculpture by Metin Yurdanur, dated 1979: two hands reaching for the sky. According to Wikipedia it belongs to a series of public sculptures the municipality commissioned in the late 1970s; the artist says it depicts hands that work, produce and create. In 2022, 43 years on, he restored the piece himself over two days. Morning light is best for standing by the pool and looking up at the hands from below.

This park is the closest point on the route to Jansen's idea of the greenway. The 1932 plan described by Burat included a pedestrian greenway linking Havuzbaşı, today's Kızılay, to the İncesu stream and the Nursery; Sıhhiye lies in that direction. The greenway was never built, but walking from Kızılay to here and on to Kurtuluş you retrace the same line. On weekdays the park fills with office workers at lunchtime; choose the morning for quiet.

Source: Wikipedia (Abdi İpekçi Parkı; Eller heykeli); ANFA; Hürriyet; DergiPark (Burat).

You reach the park by walking from Sıhhiye towards Kolej, or by taking the Ankaray from Kızılay to Kurtuluş station. This is the historical heart of the route. The land was expropriated in 1931 and set up as a nursery producing saplings to plant the city's streets; one of the four parks in Jansen's 1932 plan, named simply the Nursery, was exactly this site. The park you walk through today is the realised form of Jansen's idea of nurseries and valley landscaping for İncesu. The nursery became a park between 1961 and 1963 and received official park status in 1980; Haber Ankara reports it was declared a first degree natural conservation site in 1994.

The park covers 86,000 square metres; ANFA's breakdown lists 49,000 square metres of lawn, 10,000 of picnic ground and 2,000 of water. What Wikipedia singles out is the trees: holm oaks, rare in Ankara, grow here. In 1981 Turkey's first artificial ice rink, the Atatürk Ice Skating and Sports Facilities, opened inside the park as a private venture; skating in Ankara began on this rink. Check the municipality's website for its current schedule. The Sarı Kız sculpture by Selim Turan, installed in 1993, also stands in the park.

As you walk you will notice the layout that recalls the nursery: rows and clusters of mature trees. Runners come early in the morning, picnickers in the afternoon, and the marriage hall livens up weekends. From here the route climbs through Cebeci to 50. Yıl Park.

Source: Wikipedia (Kurtuluş Parkı); Haber Ankara; ANFA; DergiPark (Burat).

The route ends at 50. Yıl Park, on the hill above Ankara University's Cebeci campus. Wikipedia says the park opened in 1970, takes its name from the Republic's fiftieth anniversary and was renovated and reopened in 2009; the municipality and ANFA give its area as between 130,000 and 135,000 square metres. Its whole character comes from height: no other municipal park takes in so much of the city in one glance. In 2013 the Metropolitan Municipality presented it as the capital's viewing terrace, with telescopes at four viewpoints and a tea garden at the highest spot.

On the hilltop are two ponds, streams and a three tier waterfall, an open air theatre, children's playgrounds, an ice rink and sports pitches. What makes the park recognisable from afar is the flagpole: sources give its height as between 110 and 120 metres, and Wikipedia calls it the tallest in Europe. Standing at its base and looking across to the Castle, Anıtkabir and the Çankaya slopes where you started the morning closes the day.

Spend sunset here: the west facing viewpoints catch the light properly, and the evening lighting comes on before the park closes. For those walking up from Kurtuluş the climb is steep but short; anyone who prefers can approach from Dikimevi, the last Ankaray station. Facility hours change, so check with the municipality for the ice rink and the tea garden. On the way back, take the Ankaray from Dikimevi down to Kızılay.

Source: Wikipedia (50. Yıl Parkı); Ankara Büyükşehir Belediyesi haberi; ANFA.