Atatürk Cultural Center welcomes 100,000 visitors in two weeks

ISTANBUL

The Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM), which reopened its doors in late October after comprehensive renovation work, has welcomed 100,000 people in just two weeks.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inaugurated Istanbul’s landmark structure on Oct. 29, which marked the 98th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.

The new building boasts a world-class opera hall with over 2,000 seats, a theatre hall, backstage rooms and fair areas.

The center also has meeting rooms, administrative offices, restaurants and art galleries.

More than 26,000 people attended 13 opera, ballet and concert performances staged in the AKM’s opera hall. 
Nearly 14,000 art enthusiasts watched 17 events, including plays and concerts, performed in the theater hall with a capacity of 802 seats. 

Since its inauguration, 7,000 people have visited the Atatürk Cultural Center on average. World-class artists and orchestras, such as Grammy Award-winning master trumpeter and composer Chris Botti, Moroccan origin French jazz singer Hindi Zahra, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, have all performed at the new AKM. 

The original AKM, a focal point of world-famous Taksim Square in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district, was built in 1969.

After it lay abandoned for 10 years, a new project was implemented to demolish the old building and construct a new one in its place. The demolition works of the center started on Feb. 13, 2018, and the construction of the new complex began in February 2019.