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Published: October 7th 2015
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ANZAC MEMORIAL
This area has been turned into a memorial for the ANZACs. This was not the beach they first landed on, but one they landed on a few days later. The time we spent on the Gallipoli battlefields was so informative. I thought i knew the history but until I listened to the tour guide, and reading all the information at the various memorials I did not really have the full story. Our Turkish tour guide told the story with such emotion, he had a few of the tour group in tears. After being in Turkey for a few days and hearing about the last 4000 years of their history I would say that warfare was part of their culture. These people had been fighting for their bit of land for a long time. Their other secret weapon was their general, later to be called Mustafa Ataturk. He was an incredible leader of his men and on one offensive he told his men that they were going to die to save Turkey. They all were killed but the did so for their leader. He went on to be the father of the Modern Turkey. He
Beach war cemetery
Many ANZACz and some other allies who died during the Gallipoli campaign are buried here brought democracy to Turkey after their civil war ending in 1923. He became the first president dying in 1938, but here in Turkey you would be forgiven for thinking he was still around. Maybe his spirit still is. He brought in the law that Turkey would not follow only one religion and they became quite tolerant. So much so that few Muslim Turkish women wear any head covering nor do the men pray five times a day etc. those you do see with head covering are using from Iran Iraq Saudi etc. not Turkey.We visited Anzac cove, lone pine and the beach war cemetery. At lone pine memorial there were headstones for many soldiers who were never found. Also the names of all soldiers of the allied forces who were missing in action. Incredible waste of life, but at the same time an incredible sacrifice made by those men who gave their lives in that conflict. I feel humbled by it. I look around at our world today and have some concern about where we are going and what the future will
Lone Pine Memorial
This area has graves for ANZACS and other allies as well as sites for those never found. There is a wall (in the background) listing all soldiers missing in action. hold. Will there be more sacrifices made in the name of peace?
We also visited the Turkish memorial. We were told that over 80,000 Turks gave their lives along with around 20,000 allies over an 8 month period of the Gallipoli campaign. Seems such a senseless waste of young men.
We then travelled onto Istanbul. Took about 5 hours to travel from Gallipoli to Istanbul. The first day there we took in the usual sites - the Blue Mosque, Haga Sofia and the Topkapi Palace. The Topkapi Palace was the main palace of the Ottomans for the first couple of centuries. The buildings are beautiful with an incredible history too. There are tourists everywhere. I really enjoyed wandering around, imagining the lifestyle of those people who ruled a huge empire for many centuries. We also took in an evening cruise of the Bosphorus. This waterway is what separates Asia from Europe. It also links the Black sea and the Mediterranean. Unfortunately it rained quite heavily during the cruise, but it stopped long enough for me take a few photos and get then get back on the tram to return to our hotel.
We visited the Grand Bazaar,
Trenches
Here is all that is left from some trenches used during the campaign which is amazing, then I spent an hour and a half getting a turkish bath. Wow, that was worth every cent. Just loved the pampering. Istanbul is a great city to visit. Would recommend it!
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