‘Fidel Castro Park’ opened in Ankara’s Çankaya on his birthday

ANKARA

The Çankaya Municipality in the Turkish capital Ankara opened the “Fidel Castro Park” on Aug. 13, the birthday of the iconic Cuban leader.

Cuba’s ambassador to Ankara, Alberto Gonzalez Casals, also attended the park’s opening ceremony. 

The park dedicated to Cuba’s former president, one of the world’s longest-serving leaders, was built on 10,373 square meters of land in the Ahmet Taner Kışlalı neighborhood, at the intersection of the 2760th Street and the 2808th Street.

The park has a green space perching on 7,915 square meters of land and will serve as a communal area for people from surrounding neighborhoods with its urban furnishings, children’s playgrounds and new sports fields.

Castro was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as prime minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as president from 1976 to 2008. In 2016, Castro died at the age of 90, after which Cuba declared nine days of national mourning to mark his death. 

The Çankaya Municipality released a statement on its website regarding the opening of the park, saying the municipality “has established a bridge of friendship between the Turkish people and the people of other countries, by making ‘sister city’ agreements with many foreign districts” and “extended its friendship hand to Cuba.” 

“The name of Fidel Castro, a revolutionary leader who has won the hearts of many people across the globe as well as the Cuban people, endeavoring to fight 90 years of his life against imperialism, will live in Çankaya. Castro, who has left a great trail with his thoughts and struggle, will be reminded to the new generation from Çankaya,” it said.