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Article A Factory in a Time of Turmoil: The Establishment and Engineering of the Büyükdere Match Factory in 1930s Istanbul(MDPI, 2025) Tunc, Gokhan; Tunc, Tanfer EminThe Republic of Turkey established its first match factory in Sinop in 1929 but had to relocate it even before it was in operation due to severe structural damage caused by ground settlement. In July 1930, through his US-based firm the American-Turkish Investment Corporation (ATIC), the Swedish "Match King" Ivar Kreuger signed a contract with the Republic of Turkey to build and operate a factory in B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere, Istanbul. By 1930, Kreuger had already established a match production monopoly in nearly every country in Europe and that year created a similar financial system for Turkey, gaining control of match production for 25 years. This article explains the events surrounding the establishment of his modern production facility in Turkey, with a particular focus on its engineering aspects. It details the strategically chosen location, the engineering solutions for the factory's construction, its production lines, and what the country gained and lost from it. In order to determine the establishment and production processes of the facility, the authors examined domestic and foreign archival documents, firsthand news reports from the period, articles and theses, and all other available documents. After the contract was terminated by both parties, the Turkish government and ATIC, in May 1943, the factory continued its production and storage activities until May 1989. At that point, the factory and all its equipment were integrated into another existing facility in the & Idot;neg & ouml;l district of Bursa province. Almost all the buildings of the B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere Match Factory were demolished, and the land was repurposed for a 450-bed regional hospital in 2012. In short, this article deploys the B & uuml;y & uuml;kdere Match Factory as a case study to examine what Turkey gained and lost from the establishment and production processes of a modern industrial factory, enabled by US-Turkish collaboration, and equipped with the most advanced manufacturing and engineering technologies of the time.Article Citation - WoS: 2Citation - Scopus: 1A Close Examination of Ankara's Reinforced Concrete Buildings Designed and Constructed Between 1923 and 1938(Mdpi, 2023) Tunc, Gokhan; Tunc, Tanfer EminThe Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 out of the remains of the Ottoman Empire. Between 1923 and 1938, the Turkish republic underwent fifteen years of rapid expansion and growth, with Ankara as its new capital and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) as its first president. During this period, reinforced concrete (RC) played a significant role in the construction of Ankara's public-use buildings. This study focuses on 57 of these structures, built either partially, or entirely, out of RC. The buildings are classified with respect to their duration, soil properties, foundation types, structural design details, construction types, materials and overall costs. In order to provide a better picture of the time period in which these buildings were designed and constructed, the technical, financial and political aspects of the projects, and the difficulties and challenges involved in their design and construction, are also discussed. Furthermore, this study outlines the impact of foreign engineers, construction workers, firms and the educational system on the development of civil engineering and use of RC in Turkey.Article Citation - WoS: 2Wonderland Eurasia: Theme Parks and Neo-Ottoman Identity Politics in Ankara, Turkey(Univ Newcastle, 2020) Tunc, Tanfer Emin; Tunc, GokhanWith an area of 1.3 km(2) or 320 acres, Wonderland Eurasia, which is located in Ankara, Turkey, has been advertised as the largest theme park in Europe and Asia. Almost a decade in the making, it was completed in 2019 at a cost of approximately $250 to $350 million USD (1.5 to 2 billion Turkish Lira) and is seen by supporters as having the potential to boost the sagging tourism industry. This study, which is based on a July 2019 site visit to the theme park, will illustrate, however, that Wonderland Eurasia is much more complicated than appearances suggest. The authors argue that by deploying the imperial glory of the Ottoman Empire, the park constructs an artificial narrative of continuity that connects the past (through Seljuk and even prehistoric themes), to the present, and future (through robotic themes). This is not only meant to symbolically reinforce Turkey's position as a regional 'wonderland'-a social, economic, and cultural powerhouse with grand foreign policy aspirations-but in the process, is also designed to promote a neoliberal Neo-Ottomanism that involves an identity politics of historical elision and selective erasure. Tanfer Emin Tunc is a Professor in the Department of American Culture and Literature at Hacettepe University in Ankara. Gokhan Tunc is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. Of Civil Engineering at the Atilim University in Ankara.Article Citation - WoS: 8Citation - Scopus: 6Constructing Containment: Thompson-Starrett, the Cesme Beach Houses, and the Geopolitics of American Engineering in Cold War Turkey(Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2020) Tunc, Tanfer Emin; Tunc, GokhanFor the first half of the twentieth century, Thompson-Starrett and Co., a New York-based American engineering, construction, and contracting firm, dominated the building scene. In operation between 1899 and 1968, it was a leader in skyscraper construction and large-scale projects, and literally built the New York skyline. It designed and constructed the tallest skyscraper of the era, the Woolworth Building, as well as other iconic Manhattan structures such as the Equitable Building, the American Stock Exchange, the New York Municipal Building, and the Claridge, Algonquin, Roosevelt, St. Regis, and Waldorf-Astoria Hotels. A formidable pioneering force in structural engineering a hundred years ago, Thompson-Starrett is, by and large, forgotten today, especially its post-World War II ventures in Turkey, such as the Sariyar Dam and the cesme Beach Houses, a luxury beachfront cooperative located in Ilica, Izmir. However, what would prompt the engineering firm responsible for the Woolworth Building to take on the road and utility construction and project management of a Turkish summer resort? The answer lies in Cold War geopolitics and booming private enterprise, both of which, in the 1950s, converged in Turkey, relied on American engineering, and involved a complex process of Americanization.
