Turkey

Well I am now back in London after my trip to Turkey. I really enjoyed my trip. Obviously the highlight was ANZAC Day at Gallipoli. We attended the Dawn Service and then the Australian Service at Lone Pine. They also have a New Zealand s Service and a Turkish Service but you cannot visit all of these due to time and distance constraints.

The Dawn Service was amazing, despite the complete lack of coordination at the event. We camped out overnight. Well, when I say camped I mean sat on the ground rugged up in our sleeping bags. It was like camping out in front of a ticket outlet for concert tickets. There was not a lot of sleeping because we all had to cram in and there was no space to lie down. Those that did acquire some space were often woken to move. These two factors (lack of ANY sleep or broken sleep) made quite a few people quite testy at times. Considering we rolled up at about 4pm the previous day, after having driven on the bus for quite a time beforehand, I think the majority of the tour did well to be awake and alert for the Dawn Service.

There are some photos uploaded to my Photobucket site (link and password are on my blog homepage). I have a seperated the ANZAC ones from the rest of the Turkey shots. There should also be a video looking down on the cove. This should give some perspective of the terrain that was needed to be crossed before even reaching the Turks. Looking at these it makes you wonder how they even got as far as they did, remembering they would have also been carrying weapons, packs etc. Here are some examples of the terrain


At Gallipoli there is also the only place where a monument for each opposing side is at the same site. Here the Turkish and New Zealand monuments stand less than 10m apart

There is also a story where the ANZACS and the Turks were fighting less than 40m apart from their trenches. One of the Aussies had been wounded between the two trenches and was screaming horribly in pain; so much so, the sides called a temporary ceasefire. A Turk left his trench, collected the Aussie, took him back behind ANZAC lines and returned to his trench, upon which, the fighting resumed. There is a monument to this event

But the most moving thing for me was a speech given by the then Turkish President in 1934. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the International airport in Istanbul is named after him) was a division commander at the Battle of Gallipoli. He made a speech when dedicating the Gallipoli sites and when one considers he was a leader of the opposing forces, this speech speaks volumes to the man he was.

Imagine this being read in the atmosphere of the Dawn Service


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 lay 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 lying in our bosom
And are in peace
After having lost their lives on this land
They have become our sons as well


(Jonnies is the Turk term for us while Mehmets was our term for them)

Dunno bout you but I teared up while typing that.

So glad I did it. I suggest you all do it.