Keçiören

Keçiören
District and municipality
A view of FTZ Shopping Mall in Keçiören
Map showing Keçiören District in Ankara Province
Keçiören Location in Turkey Show map of Turkey Keçiören Keçiören (Turkey Central Anatolia) Show map of Turkey Central Anatolia
Coordinates: 40°00′N 32°52′E / 40.000°N 32.867°E / 40.000; 32.867
Country	Turkey
Province	Ankara
Government
• Mayor	Mesut Özarslan (CHP)
Area	159 km2 (61 sq mi)
Elevation	950 m (3,120 ft)
Population  (2022)[1]	939,279
• Density	5,900/km2 (15,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3 (TRT)
Postal code	06310
Area code	0312
Website	www.kecioren.bel.tr

Keçiören is a municipality and metropolitan district of Ankara Province, Turkey.^[2] Its area is 159 km²,^[3] and its population is 939,279 (2022).^[1] It is a crowded district in the northern part of the city of Ankara. Its elevation is 950 m (3,117 ft). The Çubuk River runs through the middle of the district.

Demographics

Composition

There are 51 neighbourhoods in Keçiören District:^[4]

Etymology

From Kiçivirân or Kiçiören (small ruins). The first part is unrelated to keçi (goat}, but rather a dissimilation of older *kiçi (“small”), from Proto-Turkic *kičüg.^[5]

Politics

Until the 1950s this was a green and pleasant area outside the city, but in recent years has become a large district of housing for Ankara's working class. The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has his Ankara residence within the district. The incumbent mayor of Keçiören is Mesut Özarslan of the secular main opposition Republican People’s Party.^[6]

In August 2018, the Municipality decided not to issue business licenses to American brands including McDonald's, Starbucks and Burger King as a response to the U.S. sanctions on Turkey.^[7]

In 2024, the municipal council unanimously decided to ban all the signs in foreign languages and require the usage of exclusively Turkish, with the exception of business branding.^[8]

Sports

The sports club Keçiörengücü is based in Keçiören.

Prominent neighbourhoods

• Etlik, located on high ground, overlooking the city
• İncirli

Places of interest

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's headquarters during the Turkish War of Independence, today used by the department of meteorology

The current administration has made efforts to decorate the mass of dull concrete that the area mainly consists of. The new buildings include a huge artificial waterfall and many other pools and fountains, and a concrete replica of the Hungarian Esztergom Castle.

Keçiören has a two-station aerial lift, the Keçiören Gondola, which connects the neighborhoods Tepebaşı (Cumhuriyet station) and Kavacık Subayevleri (Atatürk station). As of November 2013, it is the only in Ankara and Turkey's longest urban gondola lift line with its length of 1,653 m (5,423 ft).^[9][10]

Famous locals

• Selahattin Bıyıklı, kick-box champion^{[citation needed]}

Keçiören children's games

To many Turkish people the name Keçiören evokes a popular children's TV outdoor game show (similar to the British It's a Knockout) of the 1980s, which was recorded in the district.^{[citation needed]}

Twin towns – sister cities

The following places are sister cities to Keçiören:

• Tainan, Taiwan (2005)
• Goražde, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2010)
• Stirling, Scotland (2013)

Mayors of Government Keçiören Municipality

• 1984-1989 Melih Gökçek ANAP
• 1989-1994 Hamza Kırmızı SHP
• 1994-1999 Turgut Altınok MHP
• 1999-2001 Turgut Altınok Fazilet Party
• 2001-2009 Turgut Altınok AK Party
• 2009-2019 Mustafa Ak AK Party
• 2019-present Turgut Altınok AK Party

References

External links

• District State Website Archived 2010-03-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Turkish)
• District governor's official website (in Turkish)
• District municipality's official website (in Turkish)
• District Service Website (in English)
• Kenthaber.com. "General information on Keçiören, Ankara" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2006-04-28.

This page was last edited on 23 May 2024, at 04:41