Engraved forever at Anzac Cove, the Ataturk Memorial at Ari Burnu on the Gallipoli Peninsula, are these words from Kemal Ataturk, the Commander of the Turkish 19th Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and the first President of the Turkish Republic from 1924-1938:
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives,
you are now living 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 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."
How many people died in Gallipoli?
By the time the Gallipoli Campaign ended, over 500,000 men had died.
Alfie J Fairhurst
2015
