Gallipoli peninsula, site of a World War I campaign
The Arıburnu Gallipoli - Memorial at ANZAC Cove with words by modern Turkey's founding father Kemal Atatürk, of 1934: “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”. In 2017, however, the monument, that was erected in 1985, has been all but demolished, the words hacked away. This seems to be part of a process of “restoration”, and likely to reflect Turkey’s greater emphasis on religion in history and culture under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers, Thu Sep 10, 2015