Ankara Province Ankara Province Ankara Province (, ) is the capital province of Turkey. The site of the modern city has been home to settlements by many historic Anatolian civilizations in antiquity and classical times, including Phrygians, Lydians, Persians and Alexander the Great, Romans, and Galatians. The city of Ankara became a fortified stronghold of the Byzantines; it fell to the Seljuk Turks and later the Ottoman Empire. It was finally chosen by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Turkish National Movement as the site of the provisional government and the Turkish parliament in 1920, and in 1923 as the capital city of
Ankara University Observatory Ankara University Observatory The Ankara University Observatory (AUG) (), is a ground-based astronomical observatory operated by the Astronomy and Space Sciences Department at Ankara University's Faculty of Science. Established in 1959 by Dutch astronomer Egbert Adriaan Kreiken in Ahlatlıbel, Ankara. Currently, it consists of nine optical telescopes and a radio telescope, which is currently taken out of service. Old instruments are displayed in a museum at the observatory. Ankara University's Faculty of Science decided in 1954 to establish an observatory to begin with astronomical studies. Ahlatlıbel in Gölbaşı, Ankara was chosen as the ideal site, a location with dark skies