Ankara was conquered by Alexander the Great in 334 BC and made part of the Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus in 25 BC. Around 1073 it was taken by Seljuq Turks, who were driven out by Crusader Raymond IV of Toulouse in 1101. It was seized by the second Ottoman Sultan Orhan in 1356. 

The city of Ankara has been a trading centre since ancient times. Today it is an important market for the produce of the surrounding region. The city lies on the main east-west railway line across the Anatolia region, and is a major crossroads for trade. 

Ankara has grown during the past seven decades from a small town of less than 30,000 when the Turkish republic was founded in 1923 into a large urban metropolis of over 3 million people today. The choice of Ankara as the new capital of the republic was a conscious decision to break with Turkey's Ottoman past.