Turkey marked today the 111th anniversary of the decisive Ottoman naval victory of 18 March 1915 with ceremonies across the country, including on the historic Gallipoli peninsula (Çanakkale), paying tribute to the fallen in a key World War I battle that contributed to the birth of the new Turkish Republic.
The first of the commemorative events took place in Cumhuriyet Square in the city of Çanakkale, northwest Türkiye, where the Turkish flag was raised, a minute’s silence was observed and the national anthem was sung. During the ceremony, the TCG Kınalıada corvette, anchored in the Dardanelles Strait, fired 21 honorary salvos. The event was attended by many important Turkish authorities, as well as international representatives such as the Australian ambassador to Ankara, Sally-Anne Vincent, New Zealand‘s deputy ambassador, Erin Morriss, as well as several military and diplomatic attachés from Australia and the UK among others, Turkish news agency Anatolia reported.
Another ceremony was also held at the giant 42-metre-high Gallipoli Peninsula Martyrs’ Monument (in Turkish Şehitler Abidesi) to commemorate the martyrs of Çanakkale and the anniversary of the naval battle, considered to be the Ottoman Empire’s greatest victory in World War I. The ceremony was attended by the Turkey’s Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, who laid a wreath at the Atatürk monument in an emotional event that included a minute’s silence and the playing of the national anthem.
During the events in Çanakkale, the Turkish Air Force’s aerobatic team, known as ‘Solo Türk’, performed an air show, while numerous ships of the Turkish Naval Forces paraded through the Dardanelles Strait. The 57th Infantry Regiment, considered a symbol of the Battle of Gallipoli and an essential part of Ottoman history and the events surrounding the 1915 naval victory, also took part.
In a statement on the anniversary of the Battle of Çanakkale, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Gallipoli was “not just a battle, but an epic of faith, sacrifice, patriotism and national unity proclaimed to the world”. “The struggle fought at Gallipoli proved that the Turkish nation would never give up its independence,” he stressed.
A battle that marked the fate of Turkey, Australia and New Zealand
Known in Turkey as the Battle of Çanakkale, the Gallipoli campaign was a major military operation of World War I in which Allied forces attempted to control the Dardanelles Strait and conquer Istanbul, then the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
The land invasion that was intended – from the Gallipoli peninsula – to advance towards Istanbul was preceded by a naval battle that took place when French and British ships attempted to cross the Strait to bombard the Ottoman capital and storm it by landing troops… But the operation ended in total disaster and defeat for the Allies.
In view of the failure of the plan, the then British Navy Minister Winston Churchill came up with the plan to take Constantinople by land by landing troops on the Gallipoli peninsula (Gelibolu in Turkish) and, from there, advance towards the capital. The operation began on 25 April 1915 with the landing of 75,000 troops; however, the British, French, Australians and New Zealanders lost the element of surprise and were met with stubborn resistance from the Turks, stranding them between Suvla Bay and Cape Helles.
Trapped, barely able to advance and with difficulty receiving supplies, Churchill’s plan was a complete failure. The Ottoman troops, led in part by Mustafa Kemal ‘Atatürk’, managed to repel the invasion after heavy fighting, and by the time the Allied troops were evacuated in January 2016, 115,000 dead on both sides remained at Gallipoli forever. That engagement was a turning point that boosted Ottoman morale and played a key role in shaping not only Turkey’s national identity, but also that of Australia and New Zealand, where ANZAC Day is commemorated every year.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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