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Ankara (Metropolitan Municipality, Turkey)

Flag of Ankara - Image by Onur Özgün, 17 November 2001

The flag dispute in Ankara
Bilkent University (Bilkent Üniversitesi)
University of Ankara (Ankara Üniversitesi)

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The flag dispute in Ankara

The Governor of the Turkish capital city, Ankara, has announced (July 4, 1995) that he will confiscate all the flags with the new city arms on it if they are hoisted. The city council of Ankara recently changed the model of the city flag. This flag first showed a Hettite sun, now a mosque. The change of the flag was proposed by the Muslim fundamentalists in the city council. In Turkey the Governor has to approve any change of the flag. A protest campaign against the new flag was launched by some inhabitants of Ankara.

Source: NRC Handelsblad (Rotterdam), 5 July 1995, quoting AFP (Agence France Presse).

Jos Poels, 12 July 1995

In the meantime, the Metropolitan Municipalty of Ankara uses the flag with the mosque everywhere. The protest campaign continues but the Mayor does not want to change the emblem. The left parties claim that it is illegal to use the emblem but the Mayor has the power. I think the Municipality will continue using the current emblem unless a new Mayor from a different party wins the next elections.

Onur Özgün, 17 November 2001

Bilkent University

Flag of the Bilkent University, horizontal and vertical versions - Images by Ivan Sache, 17 February 2007

Quoting the online presentation of the University:

Bilkent University was founded on 20 October 1984 by Ihsan Dogramaci, through the joint resolution of Ihsan Dogramaci Education Foundation, Ihsan Dogramaci Science and Research Foundation and Ihsan Dogramaci Health Foundation. The establishment of this private university was later approved by an Act of Parliament. The aim was to create a center of excellence in higher education and research. The name "Bilkent" exemplifies the founder's aim, since it is an acronym of bilim kenti, Turkish for "city of science and knowledge".
It had long been an objective of the founder to establish a private university distinguished by its high quality education and research. The founder, himself an Academician by profession, had earlier contributed to the establishment of numerous public institutions of higher learning and served as Rector of Ankara University, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Middle East Technical University and founder and first Rector of Hacettepe University.
In October 1986 Bilkent University admitted its first students. That year there were 386 undergraduate and graduate students. Currently there are over 10,000 students in nine Faculties, two four-year Professional Schools, two two-year Vocational Schools and the School of English Language plus six graduate Schools (called Institutes). Among them are foreign students from 72 countries. With funds from the endowments provided by the founder, the university each year awards full scholarships to over 2,500 students of high academic achievement. Each year, more than 1,600,000 high-school graduates take the national examination to enter the 53 state and 25 private universities in Turkey. Bilkent gets many of the very best of these students. For example, in the 2005 examination, 32 of the top 100 scorers chose Bilkent.
The faculty is comprised of an academic staff from 43 different countries. Most of them were working in prominent universities in North America and Europe when they received offers from Bilkent University. According to ISI Citation Indexes, Bilkent continues to be first in Turkey in number of published papers per faculty member and ranks high internationally.

The flag of the Bilkent University is shown on a picture of the Bilken Symphony Orchestra playing during the 2005 graduation ceremony. The flag is hung vertically on the back wall together with the Turkish national flag, flanking a portrait of Ataturk. The flag is horizontally divided red-blue (apparently 1:2) with the emblem of the University in a white disk overall.
The emblem of the University is shown on several pages of the University website, for instance on the pages of the Computer Engineering Department. The emblem is a blue shield with a red border; inside, a red rising sun forms several white rays. A red rectangular scroll with BILKENT / UNIVERSITY in white letters is placed above the sun, which is itself charged with VERITAS in white letters.There is another red scroll below the shield, made of three parts charged with SCIENCE, ART, TECHNOLOGY, respectively, in white letters. The writings in English are not surprising because all lectures at the University are given in English except those on the Turkish Law.
However, on the aforementioned flag, the letterings in the scroll below the shield are in Turkish and not in English. The matching writings are BILKENT / UNIVERSITESI - GERÇEK - BILIM - SANAT - TEKNIK.
The vertical flag is also used outdoors.
Another picture of the graduation ceremony shows the horizontal version of the University flag and confirms the blue colour, which was not sure from the picture of the vertical flag. The picture shows other flags, maybe faculty or student organisation's flags.

Ivan Sache, 17 February 2007

University of Ankara

Flag of the University of Ankara - Image by Onur Özgün, 17 November 2001