The Atatürk Mask (Turkish: Atatürk Maskı) is a large concrete bust of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, located in Buca district of İzmir. The sculpture was completed in 2009 at a cost of ₺4.2 million.
History
Buca Municipality has agreed with sculptor Harun Atalayman to have a monument dedicated to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk built.[3] The sculpture, the construction of which started in 2006, was completed in 2009 at a cost of ₺4.2 million.[1][4] In September 2010, a museum called the Independence War and 9 September Museum was established within the sculpture for a brief of time.[5][6] In 2018, after being damaged by weather and climate, help was asked from trained mountain climbers with the repairs, because a crane is not able to access some locations of the monument.[7][2]
Design
The Atatürk Mask, at 42 m (138 ft) high, is the highest relief sculpture in Turkey, and the tenth highest relief sculpture in the world.[1] It is built up over a scaffolding and not carved into the side of the mountain.[8] To be more specific, the monument is steel structure containing a space truss system.[9] In the lower left corner of the sculpture, Atatürk's quote "Peace at Home, Peace in the World" and his signature are embossed.
