Thousands Rally to Commemorate 111th Anniversary of Gallipoli Landings
The solemn ceremony — held at one of the most sacred sites in both nations' military heritage — featured a moment of silence and the playing of the national anthems of Türkiye, Australia, and New Zealand.
New Zealand Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro drew on personal history to underscore the campaign's lasting human cost, recounting the story of Eliza O'Donnell, a New Zealand mother who crossed oceans to stand at her son's grave.
"Our presence at Gallipoli to honor and remember our fallen is made possible through the deep generosity and friendship of the government and the people of the Republic of Türkiye," Kiro said.
Australian Ambassador Sally-Anne Vincent addressed the crowd, invoking the unresolved fate of soldiers such as Private George Roy Irwin, whose remains were never recovered. She acknowledged that grief from the campaign extended beyond Allied ranks to the Turkish defenders who also paid a devastating price.
"From great suffering, understanding can grow; from former enemies, friendships can blossom," Vincent said.
Infantry Staff Colonel Fatih Cansiz delivered a reading of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's landmark 1934 message to Anzac mothers, rendered in both Turkish and English — a tradition that has come to symbolize the remarkable reconciliation between once-warring nations.
The service closed with wreath-laying by Canakkale Governor Omer Toraman and representatives from more than a dozen countries, including the UK, France, and Canada.
Anzac is an acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, which fought in Canakkale in 1915 and subsequently served across the Middle East and Europe.
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