Ankara Ankara Ankara (; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. With a population of 4,587,558 in the urban center and 5,150,072 in its province , it is Turkey's second largest city after Istanbul (the former imperial capital), having outranked İzmir in the 20th century. On 23 April 1920 the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was established in Ankara, which became the headquarters of Atatürk and the Turkish National Movement during the Turkish War of Independence. Ankara became the new Turkish capital upon the establishment of the Republic on 29 October 1923, succeeding in this role
Ankara in a single direction. Ankara is politically a triple battleground between the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP), the opposition Kemalist centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and the nationalist far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The province of Ankara is divided into 25 districts. The CHP's key and almost only political stronghold in Ankara lies within the central area of Çankaya, which is the city's most populous district. While the CHP has always gained between 60 and 70% of the vote in Çankaya since 2002, political support elsewhere throughout Ankara is minimal. The high population within Çankaya, as well as