Ankara, Turkey’s cosmopolitan capital, sits in the country’s central Anatolia region. It is the administrative center of Turkey and a huge university town, so it has a large population of government workers and university students. As the national capital, Ankara is a sprawling, modern city which can appear as little more than a dull, concrete jungle at first glance. As a result, many tourists tend to use it merely as a transit point for getting to places like Konya or Cappodocia.
Ankara has a symbolic significance for the secular Turks. It is the place where a new era for the Turkish people started. It is a symbol for independence, development and Western values.