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Museum of the Republic

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Mutt
Mutt
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4 out of 5
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More Where that Came From

  • May 21, 2009
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Mutt from Ankara, Turkey
More Where that Came From

Just down the road from the Liberation War Museum, this ornate little early republican construction was specially built to re-house the ever growing Turkish parliament and it was here that they sat from 1925 until 1960 when a vast modern complex was constructed for them down the road in Kızılay where they continue to sit to this day.

The shoddy little ticket booth sitting next to the curious ornate building is an exact replica of the one up at the War of Independence Museum and the staff maintain the same apparent desultory approach to security which is just enough to irritate but not enough to be of any real value and once passed this one is free to engage in vandalism to your heart’s content.

Entering through the ornate main entrance one passes some rather quaint antique coat hooks which seem more appropriate to a schoolhouse like the one they’d just moved from and help to humanise the whole experience in a way alien to most parliament buildings I’ve visited. Beyond this one is greeted by the massive visage of the Grey Wolf himself, projected onto the plain white wall to recount one of his blazing speeches in an eternal loop.

The three exhibition rooms beyond this pick up the story from where it left of at the end of the previous museum to tell of the early successes of the Turkish Republic in dusty old photographs, Turkish language captions and such illuminating artefacts as coins, banknotes, medals and a natty selection of hats. Occasionally these elements are drawn together such as the antique microphone accompanied by a picture of the Grey Wolf speaking into it and the mouldy old book accompanied by a picture of the Grey Wolf flicking through it to bring the whole thing to truly tedious life.

Across the hall one enters the parliamentary chamber itself with a massive wooden minbar even bigger than the previous one for the Grey Wolf to preach from where the Arabic inscription has been replaced by a Latin scripted one reading Hakimiyet Milletindir. This overlooks an ornate hall that demonstrates the early republics influences by seeming more suitable for observing the performances a Viennese chamber orchestra than the back and forth thrust of Westernised political debate.

The final three exhibition rooms back across the hall are dedicated to the first three presidents of the republic; M. Celâl Bayar is represented by his suit, top hat, gloves and in portrait and bust, İsmet İnönü is represented by suit, cufflinks, hairbrush and other personal artefacts and the Grey Wolf himself gets a double display to represent his formal side by suit, top hat, bowtie and cane and his fun side by LP’s, brogues and a rather flashy tank top which his is of course pictured wearing whilst playing with one of his many adopted children.

Not a major draw but if you’ve just been to the War of Independence Museum then you’ll have time to spare and you might as well finish the story.

From journal Ankara: One Man’s Dream…

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