During our visit to Istanbul we were asked by a tourist why there were so many Australians and New Zealanders over here. So we explained about the battle for the Dardanelles that began on 25 April 1915, the failure of the allies to take the peninsula and the victory of the Turkish in defending their land and the loss of so many men on both sides. Visiting Gallopoli was overwhelmingly sad as we relived the 9 month battle unable to comprehend the hardships that all those fighting men endured. Heat and cold, hunger and thirst, mud and mosquitoes...To the Turkish people this battle signified the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of the path to Independence. Today, the battle of the ANZAC men is considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both Australia and New Zealand. We were very touched as we visited the land around Anzac Cove, North Beach, Brighton Beach and Chunuk Bair - all of which has been devoted as a memorial to those who lost their lives. It was a dull, overcast day, quiet after the business of 6000 people visiting just a few days before. In 1934 Atatürk wrote a tribute to the ANZACs killed at Gallipoli and the quote is at Gallipoli and also on the memorial at Breaker Bay in Wellington:
Those heroes that shed their blood
and lost their lives..
you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies
and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side
here in this country of ours.
You the mothers
who sent their sons from far away countries
wipe away your tears.
Your sons are now living in our bosom
and are in peace.
Having lost their lives on this land they have
become our sons as well
They shall grow not old, as we that are left to grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
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