The Atatürk Olympic Stadium is a stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Located in the western district of Başakşehir, it is the largest-capacity stadium in the country. The stadium is named after Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. Its construction began in 1999 and was completed in 2002. It was originally built for Turkey's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games that were ultimately awarded to Beijing, China. Wikipedia