Dardanelles

The commemoration of the centenary of the Dardanelles' victory started as a show of nationalism in the wake of a coming election.

On March 18, 1915, British and French naval forces launched a campaign on Turkish positions in the Dardanelles. They failed. The date has been ingrained in my head since childhood. Every March 18, my grandfather Ömer Kemal, may God rest his soul, started the day by asking all of us the significance of the date.

Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and Britain? What do they have in common? This week not only these countries, but the entire world remembered the heroes of the Gallipoli Campaign on the centenary of the historic battle. Was it important only because of its "nation building" effect on Australians and New Zealanders?

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has emphasized the significance of national unity and brotherhood on Anatolian soil as the key to the Ottomans' Gallipoli victory of 1915.

"This blessed war recalls the importance of national unity and solidarity to the minds of our nation," he said March 18 in the northwestern province of Çanakkale.     

Turkish officials have marked the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Victory, the battle that marked a turnaround against the Allied Forces in favor of the Turks during World War I.

This Wednesday, March 18, will mark the centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign, or the Battle of Çanakkale, one of the most important battles of the 20th century as it shaped modern history and eventually created the dynamics for the national consciousness of many countries, Turkey for one.

Hundreds of migrants were captured from a Turkish-flagged cargo ship in the Dardanelles Strait on March 12 after coast guards opened fire to stop the vessel.

A new exhibition in Istanbul, 'From the Depths to the Trenches: Gallipoli 1915,' focuses on the memories of the Gallipoli Campaign on its 100th anniversary A major new exhibition on the Gallipoli Campaign opened in Istanbul on March 9, marking the centennial commemorations of the iconic conflict.

Turkey's coast guard units have fired on a rogue cargo ship in the Dardanelles Strait before capturing hundreds of migrants inside.

The 59 meters long cargo ship, named "Do?an Kartal," ignored the security forces' calls to stop off the Gallipoli peninsula on March 12. 

Thousands of poppies were being added to a memorial "wall" at Sydney's Circular Quay on March 3 in memory of Australian and New Zealand soldiers who died in World War I's Gallipoli campaign.
      
The two-metre structure in the shape of a "100" marks the upcoming century since the April 25, 2015 landing of troops on the peninsula in what is now Turkey.