Title: 50th Anniversary of the Republic Sculptures Content: right|thumb| The sculpture named Figür by the sculptor Zerrin Bölükbaşı The 50th Anniversary of the Republic Sculptures are 20 sculptures that were made for Istanbul. They were made by Turkish sculptors as a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. The sculptures were erected in different parks and squares in Istanbul around the year 1973. Many of them were damaged, destroyed, lost, or moved. Only some of them are still there. It was not easy for Turkish sculptors to show of their work between the years 1950 and 1960. This was not good because sculptors want to show their work in public spaces so they can be shown more. There were many monuments, but not many of other types of sculptures in Turkey until 1973. In May 1972, a committee in charge of 50th Anniversary of the Republic Celebrations held a meeting at the headquarters of the Governor of Istanbul. They wanted to have 50 sculptures made celebrate the anniversary; but, because they didn't have enough money they reduced it to 20. On 13 September 1973, the sketches and photographs sent by the 20 chosen artists were approved by the board members of the committee. The initiative was an important event in the history of Turkish sculpture. For the first time, sculptors were given a chance to create sculptures for some public spaces that did not have to be monuments. This supported the idea of modern sculpture in Turkey. The results of the project were 20 sculptures erected in public spaces in Istanbul by well known sculptors which were in their original style. Many of the sculptures were lost, damaged or removed or damaged and removed. This happened to some of them only a few days after they were put in their place. The sculpture named Güzel İstanbul, by Gürdal Duyar, was considered by some traditional conservatives people to be inappropriate and it was removed from Karaköy Square and eventually taken to Yıldız Park. The sculpture named İşçi by Muzaffer Ertoran was attacked. No one knows what happened to Nusret Suman's sculpture named Mimar Sinan. The sculpture named İkimiz by Namık Denizhan was removed because of damage. The sculpture named Birlik by Mehmet Uyanık was destroyed by a water compressor in 1986. The sculpture named Yükseliş by Bihrat Mavitran was destroyed to make more space for a road in 1984. The sculpture named Yağmur by Ferit Özşen was damaged and eventually removed. Many of the sculptors had made abstract sculptures. The abstract sculptures that got lost are: the one by Füsun Onur that was removed during Bedrettin Dalan's municipal tenure in 1985, the one by Seyhun Topuz that collapsed due to "natural causes" in 1984, and the one by Tamer Başoğlu which disappeared in 1986. The sculptures made by Yavuz Görey and Metin Haseki were probably stolen by scrap dealers because they were made of valuable metal. == Sculptures ==  == Recent events == In 2011, seven of the sculptures were cleaned and restored. This event was known as the "sculpture project". Hüseyin Anka Özkans' sculpture named Yankı was made to look new again, according to what was reported. As of September 2011, there was a plan to restore the Abstract sculpture in Maçka, the Bahar sculpture in Emirgan Park, the Republic 50 Years Monument in Galatasaray Square, the Dayanışma sculpture in Fındıklı Park, the Figür sculpture in front of the Muhsin Ertuğrul Theater, and the abstract sculpture at Bebek children's park.