Disruptions in Greenscape Politics in Modern Turkey: A Case Study of Başkent Nation s Garden

Public green spaces can be regarded as an important component of an urban tissue, besides bearing ideological political connotations. The emergence of modern parks as part of public greenscape started with the 19th century Ottoman Nation's Gardens. Following the first modern parks, which started to be referred to as Nation's Gardens in the Ottoman Empire, the notion of the garden was replaced by a park during the Republican Era, which displaced the Ottoman Nation's Gardens from cityscapes. The Nation's Gardens projects, revived as an election promise in 2018 and began to be built, forming part of Turkey's greenscapes in all provinces, differ from the Ottoman Nation's Gardens, to which they explicitly refer in the name. The article will discuss the changes in greenscape projects in Turkey that have been used as ideological tools and have undergone constant changes in every period and government. In line with the findings of the article, it is a fact that the users, contents, and even the locations of these greenscapes have been frequently altered throughout history. The article also provides a comprehensive analysis of the Başkent Nation's Garden project, being one of the most symbolic political projects, for discussing the changing ideologies and political priorities to open up a broader discussion on the nature of Greenscape Politics in Turkey. The research aims to contribute to the discussion of the obstacles created by the design of parks and garden areas, which form an important component of cities, differing with each political approach, thereby hindering the continuity of the urban fabric. It invites a critical examination of how political influence can create fragmentation in the field of city planning, ultimately affecting the sustainability, functionality, and cultural coherence of urban spaces.