Turkey marks anniversary of key victory

ÇANAKKALE

Turkey has marked the anniversary of the Çanakkale Victory and Martyrs’ Day and commemorated the fallen soldiers who lost their lives during naval and ground battles in Çanakkale (Gallipoli Campaign) during World War I.

Memorial ceremonies, which were attended by senior officials, local authorities, politicians, veterans, non-governmental organizations and citizens, were held in various provinces of the country to mark the occasion.

In the western province of Çanakkale, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar laid a wreath at a martyrs’ monument during an event, which was followed by a one-minute silence and recital of the Turkish National Anthem.

Later a gold medal, which was given to Çanakkale on behalf of 253,000 fallen soldiers by the Turkish Parliament in 1994 and which reads “Çanakkale is Impassable,” was attached to the flag and hoisted by Akar.

The ceremony was attended by Lucas Robson, the Australian consul general to Çanakkale, and Nicole Slight, the charge d’affaires of the New Zealand Embassy to Ankara. Seventeen piles of cannons were also fired from the TCG Burgazada frigate.

On the other hand, volunteers who set out from the Northwestern province of Tekirdağ reached Gallipoli on foot in order to keep alive the memory of the 57th Regiment, who became epic with their heroism during the battles.

The team then marched to the 57th Regiment Martyrdom on the historical Gallipoli peninsula and commemorated the fallen soldiers in a ceremony there.

Tens of thousands of soldiers died in one of the world’s most fierce battles 107 years ago in the Gallipoli Campaign in Ottoman Turkey during the First World War.

Victory against the Allied forces boosted the morale of the Turkish side, which then went on to wage a war of independence between 1919 and 1922, and eventually formed a republic in 1923 from the ashes of the old empire.