A statue showing the face of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, has finally had to be removed from a park in the northwestern Turkish province of Çanakkale after controversy and strong criticism of the image created by the bust’s author, which many have said does not represent the true face of the “father of the Turks”.
The 180-centimetre statue, which was placed in Kahramanlar Park (Heroes’ Park) by the Çanakkale municipality as part of the events for the 60th International Festival of Troy, quickly sparked a deep controversy on social media in recent weeks, mainly directed against the local municipality and the artist, Ethem Muhtaroğlu, who defended himself by explaining that the bust was placed before the inauguration of the park as a test, and without the work being completed.
“We were planning to make several colour changes. We have taken it back to the workshop to add the pupils and change the colour,” explained Muhtaroğlu, who claimed that a “poor quality” photo was shared by the press despite the fact that he himself sent them a better quality photo that they did not publish. The Çanakkale municipality said in a statement issued on 9 October that the controversial Atatürk statue has been removed “to be re-evaluated by the artist due to criticism”.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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