The silhouette of Atatürk greeting İzmir has been strengthened.

The Izmir Metropolitan Municipality has renewed and reinstalled the metal panel depicting the image of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, symbolizing his ascent to Kocatepe, greeting Izmir from the hill between Guzelbahce and Urla. Over the years, the silhouette of Atatürk had deteriorated and fallen due to weather and climate conditions. The teams from the Department of Science Affairs took it for maintenance in their workshop, completely renewing the decayed metal components and exterior appearance.

The Izmir Metropolitan Municipality renewed the metal panel reflecting the silhouette of the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, located between Guzelbahce and Urla, and placed it back in its former spot. The panel, which has become a symbol around the Cesme highway for many years, represents Atatürk’s stance at Afyon Kocatepe during the Great Offensive and had fallen due to the effects of weather and climate conditions. Although the teams from the Department of Science Affairs intervened initially, the metal base completed its lifespan and fell again after two days. Following this, the teams removed the panel from its location for maintenance. After the maintenance process was completed, the panel was reinforced and renewed before being mounted back in place.

“The Atatürk silhouette will continue to greet Izmir”

Providing information about the work process, Nedim Ersin Külekçi, the Construction Branch Manager from the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Department of Science Affairs, stated, “We carried out the necessary maintenance and repair work in our workshop belonging to our Department of Science Affairs in Naldoken. We renewed all components of the frame support system located at the back. We replaced the rusty and decayed sheet metal components and applied paint. After approximately 10 days, we took it back and completed the installation. The silhouette of our great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk will continue to greet our Izmir.”