CHAPTER 1: A Changing Ankara
In the late 1950s, Ankara was gradually losing the appearance of the quiet capital it had been in the early years of the Republic. New neighborhoods were being established every day, and vacant lots were turning into construction sites one by one. As the city grew, its population increased, and traffic became heavier than in earlier years.
The shells of new apartment buildings were rising along Mithatpaşa Caddesi. On one side, the hammering of workers building formwork could be heard, while on the other, trucks carrying sand and cement worked throughout the day. The avenue, which had contained only scattered houses a few years earlier, was now beginning to fill with large apartment buildings.
Increasing vehicle traffic was making the city’s old roads inadequate. In the mornings and evenings, cars, buses, and trucks struggled along the narrow roads, and the municipality was preparing one project after another to find new solutions.
One of the most important of these projects was underway around Sıhhiye. Changes to the plans called for closing the road that ran beside the Ministry of Health toward Hacettepe and replacing it with a park.
But no one yet knew that the small ornamental fountain in front of the Ministry of Health, right in the middle of these changes, would soon become the center of a mysterious incident the entire city would be discussing.
