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44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A liberally painted elephant in Acıbadem, Istanbul
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
In Afyon, the statue of a sujuk, a dry, spicy sausage of Turkic origin
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A cob of corn in Istanbul’s Alibeyköy neighborhood
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The giant cat of Ankara
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
Ankara’s strange friendship statue for its sister city, Seoul, South Korea
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A statue in Antalya that radiates with surrealism, possibly by accident
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
Malatya, the Turkish apricot capital, has this ATM
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The artichoke statue of Bayrampaşa, Istanbul
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The carrot, or perhaps radish, statue in Beypazarı, Ankara
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The Superman of Bodrum, Muğla
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A mosque in Istanbul’s Ataşehir neighborhood that some say resembles Darth Vader
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The dinosaur of Ankara
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
An arch in Ankara that looks like a portal to the Lord of the Rings universe
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The “gorilla” of Ankara
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
And here is the “rose portal” of Gülşehir, Cappadodica
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A meatball-holding hand statue in İnegöl, Turkey’s meatball capital
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The “man entering an ear” statue in İzmir
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The statue of candles, or something that looks like them, in Karaman
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The not-so-round watermelon in Uşak
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The pelican couple in Karşıyaka, İzmir
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The statue of garlic, just garlic, in Kastamonu where no known vampires live
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The giant melon of Kırkağaç, Manisa
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The stairway to melon heaven
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The happy tooth with feet in front of a dental - not mental - hospital in Konya
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The giant sugar beet of Konya
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A statue dedicated to all the vegetables of Kumluca, Antalya
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The monument for 'the unknown man who carries a brick' in Kuşadası, Aydın
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
Turning public fountains to a kid’s bathtub in Üsküdar, Istanbul
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A statue of an apricot in Malatya, Turkey’s apricot capital
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
More apricots, this time in a hand, in Malatya
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The giant octopus of Marmaris, Muğla
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A statue looks like Pac-Man in Marmaris, Muğla, built long before Pac-Man was created
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
Long before “Deflategate,” there was the statue of a footballer with a deflated ball in Mudanya, Bursa
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
Giant grapes in Nevşehir
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A giant pistachio in Gaziantep, Turkey’s world-renowned pistachio capital
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The giant radish in Osmaniye, Turkey’s not-very-well-known radish capital
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A statue dedicated to isot, a local red pepper, in Şanlıurfa, Turkey’s chili capital
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The statue of a kangal dog in Sivas, the world capital of the kangal breed
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The Black Sea city of Trabzon is also known for the “kemençe” musical instrument, so why not a statue in a public square?
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The robot of Ankara
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The astronaut of Marmaris, Muğla
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
If Scotland has the Loch Ness Monster, Turkey has the Van Monster. Here’s its statue in the eastern province of Van
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
A statue of a walking stick in Devrek, Zonguldak, which is Turkey’s capital of handmade walking sticks
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
In next gallery: Molly Crabapple, an artist and writer from New York, has painted murals for the Jeel School for Syrian refugee children in southern Turkey.
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
Crabapple, who has previously drawn in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Dhabi’s migrant labor camps, and with rebels in Syria, returned to the Turkish town of Reyhanlı near the Syrian border earlier this month.
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The program was organized by Karam Foundation, a grassroots organization working on both sides of the border.
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
44 bizarre statues throughout Turkey
The statue of a selfie-taking Ottoman prince in northern Turkey has drawn much attention recently, apparently overshadowing the Ankara mayor’s bizarre predilection for dinosaur statues, one of which replaced a Transformer-esque robot in the city. In fact, many provincial Turkish cities have their own statues with questionable aesthetic qualities, most linked to promoting local products or values. “The ruling Justice and Development Party [AKP] has unwittingly localized orientalism. Our local orientalism has led to kitsch in language and art,” researcher Hilmi Yavuz told daily Cumhuriyet on May 15, commenting on photos of the statues. Here are some of Turkey’s most bizarre statues...
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