PANEL | Atatürk Forest Farm in Its Centennial: Heritage, Space, and Struggle
Tarih: Date
As part of the 100th anniversary of the Atatürk Forest Farm, founded under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in line with the Republic's vision of modernization and development in agriculture, the panel titled “Atatürk Forest Farm in Its Centennial: Heritage, Space, and Struggle” was held at TED University on Saturday, April 26, 2025, in collaboration with the TEDU Department of City and Regional Planning and the UCTEA Chamber of City Planners Ankara Branch.
The panel began with opening remarks delivered by Prof. Dr. Namık Günay Erkal, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Design at TED University, and Dr. Ceren Gamze Yaşar, member of the Department of City and Regional Planning at TED University and Board Member of the Ankara Branch of UCTEA Chamber of City Planners.
The opening session featured keynote speeches by Prof. Dr. Ali Cengizkan, faculty member at Cappadocia University Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design and co-founder of Cengizkan Tasarım Medya, and Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay, Chair of TEDU Department of City and Regional Planning. The session was moderated by Elif Merve Nalçakar, Research Assistant at TEDU Department of City and Regional Planning and Board Member of the Ankara Branch of the Chamber of City Planners.
The second session, titled “Atatürk Forest Farm: Spatial and Historical Transformation from Founding to Present”, was moderated by Dr. Kumru Arapgirlioğlu, lecturer at Bilkent University’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, and included presentations by Dr. Sabahat Açıksöz, Hilal Aycı, and Serdar Nizamoğlu.
The third session, titled “Atatürk Forest Farm and Social Struggle: Resistance and Solidarity”, featured presentations by Gökçe Bolat (Attorney, UCTEA Chamber of Architects Ankara Branch), Pelin Kılıç (Deputy Secretary, UCTEA Chamber of City Planners Ankara Branch), Ahmet Demirtaş (Representative, Association for the Research of Rural Environment and Forestry Problems), Baki Remzi Suiçmez (Chairman, UCTEA Chamber of Agricultural Engineers), and Reşat Ünal (Board Member, UCTEA Chamber of Survey and Cadastre Engineers Ankara Branch). The session was moderated by Ceren İlter Soy, Board Member of UCTEA Chamber of City Planners Ankara Branch.
The fourth session, titled “The Present and Future of Atatürk Forest Farm: Resources, Policies, and Conservation Proposals”, was moderated by Gencay Serter and included presentations by Assoc. Prof. Dr. İhsan Seddar Kaynar (Faculty Member, Department of Economics, Hakkâri University), Özlem Yalçınkaya (Board Member, UCTEA Chamber of City Planners), and Damla Özdemir.
The fifth session (Student Session) featured student presentations based on the outputs of a workshop hosted by UCTEA Chamber of City Planners Ankara Branch, between April 19–20. The workshop, titled “Pinhan: AOÇ”, involved a site visit to the Atatürk Forest Farm and a collective design and production process for future utopias concerning Atatürk Forest Farm. The workshop was coordinated by Dr. Selin Çavdar with the participation of 15 students from TED University, Middle East Technical University, Çankaya University, and Gazi University.
The closing session, themed “The Future of Atatürk Forest Farm”, began with concluding presentations by Dr. Ceren Gamze Yaşar and Dr. Selin Çavdar, followed by a forum and open discussion moderated by Prof. Dr. Nilgül Karadeniz, member of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Ankara University.
