April 25: Anzac Day

The following article is the critic of the book Gallipoli: The Turkish story by Sidah Russell, who writes for the travel section of nzoom.com:The Homepage for New Zelanders. April 25 is celebrated as Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, and many people visit Canakkale (Anzac Cove) each year on this day as pilgrimage.

Gallipoli: The Turkish story

Australians and New Zealanders grow up steeped in the mythology of Gallipoli. The "Anzac spirit", of bravery and humour in the face of adversity, of mateship and steadfastness, shapes our very sense of national identity.

Every year, on April 25, speeches are made that are so full of pride and emotion that anyone not familiar with the facts could be forgiven for thinking Gallipoli was a great military victory.

And it was -- for the Turks.

This year, amongst the annual batch of books published before Anzac Day, is one with a unique perspective. Called Gallipoli: The Turkish story , it relates the events of the campaign from the point of view of the "enemy".

In doing so, it will make many New Zealanders rethink some of their assumptions. Much of our Gallipoli folklore comes from the belief that the Anzacs fought bravely and well for a cause they believed in. Yet, how many of us have considered the fact that the Anzacs were invading foreign soil?

We commemorate the heroics of the Anzacs, but what do we really have to celebrate? It was a bungled military campaign that gained almost no ground in the eight bloody months it was conducted. From the Turkish point of view, the battle of Cannakale (as it is known to them) was a triumph against two of the world's most powerful nations: Britain and France.

Gallipoli: The Turkish story tells its tale largely through the words of soldiers and commentators who were actually there. Turkish and Anzac soldiers are given equal space, and what emerges is a well-grounded mutual respect.

Of course the book's authors, who include two Turkish immigrants, have an agenda of their own. In the interests of fostering good relations between the Turkish and Australian communities, Gallipoli: The Turkish story is very careful not to debunk the Anzac folklore we hold so dear.

If anything, the book builds a new set of myths to sit alongside the Anzac ones.

We are shown examples of Ottoman nobility: their soldiers giving water to injured Anzacs, or helping to bury the dead from both sides. And we are told of their undeniable courage in battle.

Living in trenches sometimes no more than 20 metres apart, the Anzacs and the Turks developed an uneasy form of camaraderie. There are many stories in Gallipoli: The Turkish story that talk about the friendships that developed across enemy lines.

Soldiers often threw tins of food, cigarettes and messages into each other's trenches. And, after suffering the same discomfort, fear and boredom for eight months, it seems they began to consider each other more as companions in adversity than sworn enemies.

Whether these ceasefire moments were indicative of the entire Gallipoli campaign is dubious but, today, there's certainly no ill-feeling towards the Turks, unlike, say, the Japanese or Germans.

As time has passed, I think most Australians and New Zealanders accept that there are some doubts about the validity of our soldiers being sent to Gallipoli, but we still like to celebrate their strength of character, their so-called "Anzac spirit".

What is more surprising is that the Turks have so completely forgiven an invasion of their homeland. Anyone who has visited Anzac Cove will remember the moving epitaph erected by the Turkish Government.

The monument immortalises the words of Mustafa Kemal, the father of modern Turkey who was also one of the Ottoman army's leading officers at Gallipoli. It has to be one of the most magnanimous post-war speeches ever made:

"... 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."

The battle of Cannakale is a defining event in Turkish history because it thrust Mustafa Kemal, later known as Ataturk, into the limelight. After the Turks signed an armistice with the Allies, France, Italy, Britain and Greece scrambled to gain control of the region's oil reserves and occupied much of Anatolia.

Mustafa Kemal became the leader of a national liberation struggle and successfully pushed the occupiers out. In 1923 he was elected Turkey's first president, and engineered the formation of a secular government.

By outlining the above, Gallipoli: The Turkish story explains why this particular battle is of major significance to both the Anzac nations and the Turks. If it does not quite manage to strip out the myths surrounding Gallipoli, it at least encourages us to reflect on how the Anzac legend has been created.

This book would make an excellent companion for anyone planning to make the pilgrimage to Anzac Cove. Visiting the New Zealand cemetery at Chunuk Bair is an undeniably moving experience but, in reflecting on the events at Gallipoli, it's important that patriotic sentiments don't obscure the common tragedy of war.

Sidah Russell

Title: Gallipoli: The Turkish story
Authors: Fewster, Basarin & Basarin
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1741140455

Can be ordered online from the Australian Bookseller Gleebooks for AU$27.23 plus overseas shipping. Not yet available in the U.S.