Officials and visitors from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey gathered in northwest Turkey on Saturday to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, the Associated Press reported. The ceremony took place near a beach associated with the dawn landing by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on April 25, 1915, when the hour of commemoration matched the historic moment.
The ceremony began at 5:30 a.m. local time and lasted about an hour. Participants attended what the AP described as a solemn sequence of mournful hymns and prayers, followed by the laying of wreaths. Representatives from many countries around the world took part in the observance, according to the report.
New Zealand’s Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro delivered the opening address, in which she linked remembrance to reconciliation. “From great suffering, understanding can grow. From former enemies, friendships can blossom. The relationship between Turkey, Australia and New Zealand is built on remembrance, respect and recognition of our shared humanity,” Kiro said, the AP reported.
A Turkish official then read a tribute connected to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkish Col. Fatih Cansiz read from the tribute Ataturk made in 1934 for those who died in the fighting, including the line: “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 in this country of ours.”
The Gallipoli campaign was part of a British-led effort to defeat the Ottoman Empire, the AP said. It involved a push to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul through the Dardanelles, with the goal of knocking the Ottomans out of the wider conflict.
The campaign ultimately failed, leading to tens of thousands of deaths on both sides during the eight-month fighting, according to the report. Still, the AP said the battle helped forge Australia and New Zealand’s national identities and shaped the friendship those commemorations point to with Turkey.