GELIBOLU (A.A) - 25.04.2006 - A dawn ceremony took place in Anzac Bay in Gelibolu Peninsula to mark the 91st anniversary of the Canakkale battles.

Around 10,000 Australians and New Zealanders participated in the dawn ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, Australian Governor General Michael Jeffery said that the soldiers of Australia and New Zealand began penetrating into the bay in early hours of the morning 91 years ago. "This is the time that the Turkish army defended their homeland bravely," noted Jeffery.

Praising the war skills of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Jeffery stressed that, on the first day of Canakkale battles, 2,000 Australian and New Zealander soldiers were killed. "What remains after the Canakkale battles are the sacrifices made and a history based on mutual respect," commented Jeffery.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's House of Representatives Speaker Margaret Wilson underlined that the Canakkale battles caused the extermination of many young generations from different countries and deep pain. "The grand children of New Zealander soldiers are in Gelibolu today. The grand children of Turkish and New Zealander soldiers have learned to respect each other. The seeds of mutual relations were planted in Gelibolu 91 years ago," indicated Wilson.

First Lieutenant Ercan Aslan read some remarks of Ataturk at the dawn ceremony. "Ataturk noted that the soldiers of Australia and New Zealand who died in Canakkale battles are now Turkey's sons," remarked Aslan.

The dawn ceremony ended with a two minute silence and prayers for all those that died in Canakkale battles.

(SOL-AÖ)



Kaynak : Anadolu Ajansı