Wednesday October 31 2012
At one of the cemeteries at the site of the World War One battlefield of Gallipoli, there is a monument with these words of Mustafa Kemal (known as Ataturk -- "father of the Turks") inscribed:
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.
Here, in 1915, Allied forces (including many thousands of Irish) launched a campaign against Turkish troops to gain control of the Dardanelles and of Istanbul. Ataturk, then a young officer, led the successful defence of the peninsula. In the battles 46,000 Allied troops were killed and 86,000 Turks; tens of thousands were wounded on both sides.
More:Hugh O’Flaherty: Turkey's road from WWI to EU embrace - Analysis, Opinion - Independent.ie