Carrying on the tradition of 98 years
Many New Zealand and Australian soldiers were killed at Gallipoli in Turkey during the failed attack by the allied forces. Thousands of these soldiers were actually buried in Turkey.
Many years later in 1934 Mustafa Ataturk, Turkish army officer, statesman and first president of Turkey said the following words of recognition and comfort to those who lost family in the Gallipoli battle. This tribute was recalled at the dawn service at Mt Maunganui 2013
In 1934 Atatürk wrote a tribute to the ANZACs killed at Gallipoli:
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 now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway 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.
This inscription appears on the Kemal Atatürk Memorial, ANZAC Parade, Canberra.
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