Ankara, Heart of Turkey: The Modernization Process
This documentary is a production that successfully reflects Turkey's modernization process, especially the transformations experienced in its first 10 years. When the film is analyzed in terms of Turkish-Russian relations, it shows that the USSR delegation established a connection with Turkey, approached it amicably, and wanted to document the country. It can be said that Turkey welcomed the USSR delegation participating in the 10th Anniversary celebrations more warmly compared to the delegations of other states. In the documentary, it is noteworthy that a Soviet flag was present on a Turkish vessel while the USSR delegation was being welcomed by small boats.
The USSR delegation was not the only foreign delegation to attend the 10th Anniversary celebrations. Delegations from countries such as Greece, Germany, Bulgaria, and Romania also participated. Thus, they shared the enthusiasm of the 10th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey. These celebrations, which coincided with the interwar period, proved that Turkey pursued a peaceful policy by avoiding taking a definitive side.
In addition to all these political relations, the great transformation of Ankara observed in the film during its first decade and the reflections of this change on the present day are striking. Before the Republic, Ankara was an underdeveloped settlement no different from a village. At that time, urbanization was quite limited outside of today's Kaleiçi region. There were small villages on the plains and along the riverbanks. In short, pre-Republic Ankara was an underdeveloped city.
The Republic administration decided to reorganize this small and underdeveloped city. By the end of ten years, although Ankara was not yet a large metropolis, it had gained important structures such as basic science institutions, government offices, and bank buildings. The Atatürk Forest Farm was established, and various agricultural products began to be cultivated under state management.
Furthermore, it is evident that Ankara's city planning was executed with the foresight that the city would become a large metropolis in the future. While all official state buildings were located around Ulus and Sıhhiye - Kızılay (Yenişehir), the construction of the Çankaya Mansion in a relatively distant corner overlooking the Ankara of that day shows that the city was planned with a vision to grow in that direction.
Alongside these developments, people from all over Turkey and from different social segments flocked to Ankara for the 10th Anniversary celebrations. A veteran, who constitutes an example of this in the editing of the work, comes to Ankara with his donkey, probably from a distant village, to participate in the celebrations. Other citizens from distant regions also attended the event with their oxcarts. This Republic celebration demonstrated the success of bringing people from different regions together in Ankara, and it is clearly observed that everyone participated in this shared enthusiasm.
Moreover, the contrast between the dances in the short performance presented to the USSR delegation before the celebrations and today's examples clearly shows that Turkey has also changed in terms of its dance culture. From the perspective of an Ankara resident, it has been noted that these dances are quite different from the typical Ankara folk dances. Similar to the profound architectural transformation the city underwent, it is a striking finding that the folk dances have also changed this extensively.
In conclusion, the documentary "Ankara, Heart of Turkey" has successfully conveyed the construction of the young Republic in its first decade through both multifaceted diplomatic relations and urbanization steps. The film has clearly recorded Ankara's transformation into a modern capital rising from the steppe, its architectural planning, and how the Anatolian people united around this enthusiasm. Besides all this emphasis on development and industrialization, the camel herds and traditional shepherd depictions squeezed between modern structures stand out as a subtle reflection of the Orientalist perspective the Soviet filmmakers held toward Turkey.