Gallipoli: The Turkish Story
Gallipoli: The Turkish Story by Kevin Fewster, Vecihi Basarin, Hatice Basarin
Allen & Unwin | September 2003 | ISBN: 1741140455 | PDF | 184 pages | 5.1 MB
Offering interviews with Turkish survivors of the Gallipoli campaign, insights from their descendants, and more than 50 photographs [not included in the pdf version] from the Turkish side of the trenches, this is the story of the infamous World War I battle from the Turkish perspective. This portrayal of the Battle of Canakkale, as the Turks call it, paints a richer portrait of the past and broadens the knowledge and understanding of this tragic event. This battle has become a common bond between Turkey and the Australians and New Zealanders against whom they fought, and this book presents a point of view which is of growing interest.
Excerpt (p.2):
Among the floral tributes laid outside Hobart’s St David’s cathedral was a wreath sent by a local Turkish association. Until recent years, it would have been seen as somewhat provocative for a local Turkish group to link itself to Australia’s Anzac experience. But, over the past decade or so, there has been a remarkable change in the public mood of these one-time protagonists. Turks and Australians have seemingly buried their enmity and now see Gallipoli as a unique bond between the two nations. This mutual respect is aptly summed up by a small article that appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald the day after Campbell was buried. An Australian working in Montreal, Canada, had mentioned Campbell’s death to a Turkish work colleague. The Turk replied about the Anzacs: ‘In Turkey, we don’t consider them as the enemy any more. They fought bravely, and Turkey is proud of the war fought on both sides. It was our greatest military victory. But your sons, buried in Turkey, are our sons.’ It’s quite likely that he made these remarks knowing that they paraphrased Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s immortal pronouncement almost seventy years ago:
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.
Mustafa Kemal was the most imaginative, most successful officer to fight on either side at Gallipoli. At several moments in the campaign his personal intervention was almost certainly the difference between success and failure for the Ottomans. Gallipoli launched his career. He subsequently became the first president of the newly formed Republic of Turkey and the nation’s acknowledged founding father.
In the past decade or so Australians have become increasingly willing to accept Turks and Turkey into the nation’s annual remembrance of Anzac. This respect between Turk and Australian, born out of war against each other, is truly unique. Come Anzac Day each year, neither Australia’s political leaders nor the RSL embraces the Germans or Japanese as it does the local Turkish community. This book also attempts to explain why Australians and Turks now regard Gallipoli as the war that made them friends.
Gallipoli: The Turkish Story
Sample pages
(quality reduced for web)
Contents
List of maps viii
Acknowledgements ix
A note on terminology xi
Place names on the peninsula xiii
Pronunciation of the Turkish alphabet xv
Turkish/Ottoman history: A brief chronology xvi
Introduction 1
1 A special bond 6
2 A proud heritage 29
3 Defending the homeland 49
4 ‘…a brave and tenacious enemy’ 78
5 Honour is restored 102
6 From Atatürk to Anzac Day 130
Postscript: Symbols for tomorrow? 147
Notes 152
Bibliography 157
Index 161
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