Etimesgut

{{Infobox Turkey place | type = metro district | name = Etimesgut | image_skyline = Guzelkent19.JPG | image_caption = Eryaman neighborhood in Etimesgut | image_logo = Etimesgut Belediyesi logo.png | image_map = Ankara location Etimesgut.svg | map_caption = Map showing Etimesgut District in Ankara Province | coordinates = {{coord|39|56|45|N|32|40|10|E|type:city_region:TR_source:GNS-enwiki|display=it}} | province = Ankara | leader_party = CHP | leader_name = Erdal Beşikçioğlu | leader_name1 = | area_total_km2 = 273 | elevation_m = 843 | population_footnotes = <ref name=tuik/> | population_total = 614891 | population_as_of = 2022 | postal_code = 06790 | area_code = 0312 | website = {{url|http://www.etimesgut.bel.tr/}} }} '''Etimesgut''', formerly '''Ahimesut''', is a municipality and metropolitan district of Ankara Province, Turkey.<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706215822/https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx |date=2015-07-06 }}, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 8 June 2023.</ref> Its area is 273 km<sup>2</sup>,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.harita.gov.tr/uploads/files-folder/il_ilce_alanlari.xlsx|title=İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri|publisher=General Directorate of Mapping|access-date=22 May 2023}}</ref> and its population is 614,891 (2022).<ref name=tuik/> It mainly consists of large public housing projects, {{convert|25|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} from Ankara city centre. Its elevation is {{convert|843|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fallingrain.com/world/TU/68/Etimesgut.html|title=Geographical information on Etimesgut, Turkey|access-date=27 June 2023|author=Falling Rain Genomics, Inc}}</ref>

==History== Archaeological research shows habitation since 2000 BC, including a Phrygian settlement in the 8th century BC. Then of course the district began to share the history of the city of Ankara with its Lydians, Persians, Galatians, Ancient Romans, Byzantines and finally Turks. Etimesgut is on the ancient Silk Road to the orient, and still today the road and railway from Ankara to Istanbul pass through the district.

Atatürk was fond of the area and would come here to ride horses and chat to the locals. He had a room in the building that is the public health laboratory today, and many other public buildings, including the hospital and the post office, that were built by his order still stand today.

Etimesgut began as a housing project of 50 homes ordered by Atatürk in 1924 to accommodate Turkish refugees from Bulgaria. From the 1950s, as poverty forced people to migrate from the countryside into the city much illegal housing gecekondu was thrown up in this district. Some of this has been replaced by public housing projects such as Elvankent, Eryaman and Güzelkent and also military and civil service accommodation. However much ''gecekondu'' remains, inhabited by working-class people from cities such as Erzurum, many of whom commute to jobs in the city of Ankara. The Islamic terrorist organisation Hizbullah had a number of hidden cells here in the 1990s.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}

==Present== The area has only the most basic shops and amenities. Almost all of the housing in Etimesgut is apartment buildings except for the Güzelkent project. As building land in the city of Ankara is now impossible to find, areas like this on the fringes of the city, where building land is cheap, are growing faster and faster.

Public buildings include the sugar factory, the Turkish aviation authority headquarters at Etimesgut Airport and a military training camp.

As for places to shop, Etimesgut has a myriad of shopping malls, with one of the latest of them constructed being also one of the biggest and most popular: Metromall AVM.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metromall Alışveriş Merkezi |url=https://metromallavm.com/tr |website=metromallavm.com/tr |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> The building is made up of 5 floors, 2 of them being basement floors, and the second basement being a closed car park.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metromall AVM fllor plan |url=https://metromallavm.com/tr/floor-plan |website=metromallavm.com/tr |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> The construction of the shopping mall started in 2014 in Eryaman, Etimesgut, and it finished construction officially in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metromall AVM |url=https://www.arkiv.com.tr/proje/metromall1/8503 |website=www.arkiv.com.tr |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> Both the design and the construction of the building was done by "MSA Mimarlık", an architecture company based in Ankara.<ref>{{cite web |title=msamimarlik |url=http://www.msamimarlik.com.tr/ |website=www.msamimarlik.com.tr/ |access-date=30 March 2023}}</ref> Today, the shopping mall is one of the most popular shopping malls in Etimesgut, and increased the property value and overall popularity of Eryaman since its construction.

The local football team Etimesgut Şekerspor has a chequered history; in recent years it has gained popularity by hiring former national team player Sergen Yalçın.

== Demographics ==

{{Historical populations |title = Historical population |align = none |cols = 1 |shading = off |percentages = pagr |source = TÜIK (2007-2022)<ref name=tuik>{{cite web|url=https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=en |title=Population Of SRE-1, SRE-2, Provinces and Districts|publisher=TÜIK |access-date=27 June 2023}}</ref> |2007|289601 |2012|425947 |2017|566500 |2022|614891 }}

==Planned security campus== The construction of a new building in Etimesgut is underway, to serve as the joint new headquarters of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT), the Ministry of National Defence, and the Turkish General Staff together with the commands of the Army, Navy and Air Force branches of the Turkish Armed Forces. Reportedly, the move, which will turn the area into a "security campus" comparable to the US Pentagon, is part of measures taken after the failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt.<ref>{{cite news |title=MİT, MSB ve komutanlıklar Etimesgut'ta toplanacak |author=Deniz Çiçek |url=http://www.haberturk.com/gundem/haber/1305407-mit-msb-ve-komutanliklar-etimesgutta-toplanacak |newspaper=Haberturk |date=4 October 2016 |access-date=5 October 2016 |language=tr}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Turkish Pentagon' to be formed in capital Ankara: Report |url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-pentagon-to-be-formed-in-capital-ankara-report.aspx?PageID=238&NID=104570&NewsCatID=338 |newspaper=Hürriyet Daily News |date=4 October 2016 |access-date=5 October 2016}}</ref>

==Composition== There are 38 neighbourhoods in Etimesgut District:<ref>[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Mahalle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706215822/https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx |date=2015-07-06 }}, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 22 May 2023.</ref> {{div col|colwidth=12em}} * 30 Ağustos * Ahi Mesut * Alsancak * Altay * Aşağıyurtçu * Atakent * Atayurt * Ayyıldız * Bağlıca * Bahçekapı * Balıkuyumcu * Devlet * Elvan * Erler * Eryaman * Etiler * Fatih Sultan * Fevziye * Göksu * Güzelkent * İstasyon * Kazım Karabekir * Oğuzlar * Orhun * Piyade * Şehit Osman Avcı * Şehitali * Şeker * Şeyh Şamil * Süvari * Topçu * Tunahan * Turkuaz * Yapracık * Yavuz Selim * Yeni Bağlıca * Yeşilova * Yukarıyurtçu {{div col end}}

==Former broadcasting site== At Etimesgut, there was a longwave broadcasting station with two masts each 256 metres tall, which worked on 198 kHz. The station, whose masts stood at {{coord|39|56|24.07|N|32|40|3.2|E|type:landmark|name=Etimesgut transmitter, mast north}} and at {{coord|39|56|14.33|N|32|40|3.03|E|type:landmark|name=Etimesgut transmitter, mast south}} was built in 1938 and shut-down in 2004 and was afterwards demolished.

==Places of interest== * Ankara Aviation Museum

==Image gallery== <gallery> File:Guzelkent ev1.JPG|{{center|''Güzelkent houses''}} File:Guzelkent ev 3.JPG|{{center|''A house in Güzelkent''}} File:Guzelkent ilkiz1.JPG|{{center|''Villas in Güzelkent''}} File:Guzelkent evler8.JPG|{{center|''Güzelkent Towers''}} File:Eryaman 3. etapson.JPG|{{center|''Eryaman housing project''}} </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} * [http://www.etimesgut.gov.tr/ District governor's official website] {{in lang|tr}} * [http://www.etimesgut.bel.tr/ District municipality's official website] {{in lang|tr}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.etimesgut.gov.tr/sayfa.asp?id=105|title=Brief history and geography of Etimesgut|author=Governorship of Etimesgut, Turkey|language=tr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315053548/http://www.etimesgut.gov.tr/sayfa.asp?id=105|archive-date=2008-03-15}} * {{cite web|url=http://www.kenthaber.com/IlceDetay.aspx?ID=75|title=General information on Etimesgut|author=Kenthaber.com|language=tr|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719052351/http://www.kenthaber.com/IlceDetay.aspx?ID=75|archive-date=2011-07-19}}

Category:Populated places in Ankara Province Category:Etimesgut Category:Illegal housing Category:Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey