Afyonkarahisar a.k.a. Afyon (0272)

Afyon’s population is 170,455 (2008 census). Afyon is a small rural town and used to have little in the way of cultural amenities. The level of education of its population used to be low. When Afyon Kocatepe University opened in the 1990s the situation started to change. The University has a painting, a ceramics and an audio visual department and the student population started to organize cultural activities in town. Afyon Kocatepe University’s fine arts faculty is located on the Ahmet Necdet Sezer Kampusü.

Afyon is known for its marble (in 2005 there were 355 marble quarries in the province of Afyon producing high quality white stone) and various handmade weavings. Afyon’s Music Festival struggled because it received little support from the government.

In the STGM database a total of 82 NGO’s was listed of which 11 were dedicated to education and youth, 3 to culture and 0 to arts.