The Gallipoli Peninsula is located on the western side of Turkey known as Thrace. It has an ancient Greek and Roman history. However since WWI and the landing of the Anzac Troops on 25 April 1915, it has become a pilgrimage place for Turkish, Australian and New Zealand people, many of whom have relatives who fought and died there.
Of recent years it has become the focus for many young people of those nationalities to discover this very moving part of their history. On Anzac Day people join together for the Dawn Service at the tiny landing strip known as Anzac Cove. Not only on Anzac Day, but every day of the year people make the journey to visit this very moving site. The generous words of Kemal Ataturk written in 1934 are inscribed on a memorial near Ari Burnu Cemetary:
“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 Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours. You, the mother, who sent your sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After they have lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.”
