The political struggle on and at Kizilay square with respect to perceived, conceived and lived public space before and after 1980

Abstract

Workshop 3. Politics of public space Abstract: Since the time it was conceived as a socio-spatial project of new established Republic of Turkey, K?z?lay Square in Ankara has been reproduced within its (historical) meaning, (urban) function and (spatial) form, through changing contradictions and actors within political, social and economic context. In the first half of 1960s the square turned to be both the scene and subject of political struggle as a symbolic public space within the oppositional movement to party in power. After the military coup d’état in 1960, demonstrations were expelled out of the square by legal regulations. By 1980s spatial implementations occurred as attempts to change the square from a pedestrian zone to a junction. Within this article, under the assumption of political character of the square, the perception of actors reproducing and experiencing the square will be questioned through five criteria determining public space: access, freedom of action, claims to space, change and ownership and disposition.