Sarıkamış martyrs to be remembered with memorial by TOKİ

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

This picture shows the monument planned to be build at Sarıkamış. AA photo AA Photo

The state-run housing agency (TOKİ) will build a 99-meter-high memorial to commemorate soldiers who died in the eastern province of Kars’ district of Sarıkamış during World War I.

The memorial is set to be built for the 100th anniversary of the Sarıkamış operation which was conducted by Turkish troops in December 1914 but left 90,000 Turkish soldiers dead.

The monument, which will take Ottoman and Seljuk architecture as an inspiration, will be built on the Kazım Paşa Hill.

A 96-square-meter Turkish flag affixed to a 43-meter-high pole will fly on top of the monument.

The memorial will also include an observation terrace, a ceremony area and a panoramic museum depicting the Battle of Dumlupınar.

The Sarıkamış operation started on Dec. 22, 1914, under the command of Enver Paşa to thwart the Russian Caucasus Army gathered in the area of Sarıkamış, Selim and Kars. The Turkish Third Army, which lost huge number of soldiers due to winter conditions rather than battle wounds, was defeated on Jan. 5, 1915.