No worries...
Posted on 06/20/2017 3:39:02 PM PDT by naturalman1975
A RENOVATION of a revered Anzac Cove memorial honouring fallen Australian soldiers has sparked controversy after the Turkish Government suggested it may be replaced by an Islamic interpretation of the role Diggers played in the Gallipoli invasion.
Familiar words attributed to Turkey’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk — likening Australia’s dead “Johnnies” to Ottoman “Mehmets” and welcoming them to rest in his country’s soil — have been removed, according to The Guardian.
The renovation of the 1985 monument has heightened suspicions that the refurbished memorial could reflect a growing Islamist interpretation by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration of Australia’s part in the 1915 Anzac invasion of Gallipoli.
The Turkish Government said the near-demolition of the monument bearing Atatürk’s words is part of a process of “restoration” of all Turkish memorials and epitaphs on the Gallipoli peninsula.
However, sources in Australia and Turkey reportedly told The Guardian the motivations behind the restorations could be in part political and are likely to reflect Turkey’s greater emphasis on religion in history and culture under Erdogan.
It was also reported that the sources, including historians in both countries, believe that when the restoration is complete the sentiments on the Anzac Cove Atatürk memorial may be markedly different.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
But having said that, the removal of this particular memorial - unless it is restored with one bearing a similar inscription - will have a negative effect on Australian/Turkish relations because of the specific words carved on it. They are gracious and graceful and the fact that Kemal Ataturk expressed them has been a significant positive in terms of our historical relationship.
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 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.
Turkey moving back towards a more rigid interpretation of Islam is problematic for all sorts of reasons. And this may be symbolic of that.
(*I am fully aware that in real terms, the Australian and New Zealand contribution to the Gallipoli landings was a minority one, compared to overall British forces. But it has special meaning for Australians and New Zealanders because it was the first time significant numbers of soldiers from both countries saw action under their own flags as independent nations - to the United Kingdom, it's a relatively minor campaign in its history. To Australia and New Zealand, it's defining).
It wouldn’t surprise me if, down the road, the Islamist Erdogan would dig up the dead Aussies & New Zeelanders, decapitate the skeletal remains & otherwise defile the bodies. Just to show supposed Islamic supremacy.
Ataturk was a great man and his words are among the most magnanimous ever written by a national leader. The clowns running Turkey now couldn’t shine his boots.
Resignation is hungry for a caliphate
A lot of the World War I writings are now available for free in electronic version, the copyrights having expired. Perhaps you should read some of them.
For the original invasion
1 British Army Division (29th)
1 British Naval Division (later designated the 63rd Div.)
1 French Division (1st)(Corps Expeditionnaire d'Orient)(based on 17th Colonial, mixed French and African (Senegalese, Algerian and Tunisian) troops)
1 Australian Division (1st)
1 mixed Australian-New Zealand Division (New Zealand Infantry Brigade and 4th Australian Brigade)
There was also an Ambulance Corps of between (appx 254 officers and men) from Australia(4th Field Ambulance)
If the Anzac invasion force was, technically speaking, a minority of the total force, then so was the British; and even moreso if limited to the British Army.
Been there for their awesome dawn service.
Well, I suppose so, if one is willing to overlook his role in the genocide of Christians.
Turkey no longer ascribes to what NATO is. We should consider their expulsion from NATO. The actions of Turkey in reference to their war on the Kurds outside of Turkey and the blatant assistance with mass migration of “refugees” mostly men of military age to Europe is simply Islamic aggression against The West. Erogodon is not our friend. In fact he is the dictator of Turkey whom wishes us great harm.
The Kurds are our friends.
The Kurds are our friends.
The Kurds are our friends.
Erogodan is not our friend.
Never forget that!
My degree is in Military History (mostly Australian but not solely). I know the numbers for Gallipoli.
And you’re right. I should have said “Gallipoli campaign” not Gallipoli landings. I was in a hurry when posting but that was a slip.
But also, as an ex-sailor, I definitely do include the Naval contribution in talking about the numbers.
The reason for adding the addendum is I find that whenever I discuss this online, there’s a very good chance that if I don’t mention them explicitly, there’s a very good chance some Brit will pop up and complain about the all too common presentation of Gallipoli as only being the ANZACS. And I think they’ve every right to.
Three of my mother’s uncles died at Gallipoli or just after...they are all buried there...
8 of the brothers enlisted during WWI...5 were overseas fighting...
the other 2 were wounded and my great grandmother had a hard time getting a pension for them from the New Zealand government...
Agreed
The Frogs are the ones that generally get shortchanged on the Gallipoli history. (Or the Russians.)
I’m currently reading on Kindle “Five Months at Anzac A Narrative of the Personal Experiences of the Officer Commanding the 4th Field Ambulance, Australian Imperial Force by Joseph Lievesley Beeston (the book isn’t much longer than that title). I’m part way through Ian Hamilton’s Gallipoli Diary, Volume I but I took a break shortly after the landings. I’ll probably go back to it after Beeston.
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