The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan not only secured victory in the constitutional referendum last weekend, giving him sweeping new powers, but also plans to build a new museum focusing on the failed coup that engulfed the country last July. Turkey’s culture ministry is moving ahead with the Museum of the 15 July: Martyrs and Democracy, with work due to start on the new institution in June, according to the Anadolu news agency.
The building based in Kahramankazan outside the capital Ankara will house permanent and temporary displays dedicated to the “martyrs and warriors” of last summer’s coup, when part of the Turkish military attempted to overthrow Erdoğan.
At least 240 people were killed when soldiers and tanks took to the streets of Ankara and Istanbul but the coup failed after thousands of Turkish citizens rallied around Erdoğan. Artists, newspaper cartoonists and cultural figures were among the 35,000 people detained in the aftermath.
The 3,400-sq. m museum, which will also include a library, café and shop, is due to open at the end of next year and cost 10m Turkish liras ($2.7m). The Turkish culture ministry declined to comment further on the museum initiative.
