The ANZACs and friendship born of war

The ANZACs and friendship born of war
In 18 March 1985, in a declaration jointly issued by the Turkish, Australian and New Zealand governments, it was announced that Turkey had formally declared the name of the cove between the Küçük and Büyük Arıburnu on the Gallipoli Peninsula the ANZAC Cove and the words written by Atatürk in 1934 in the memory of the ANZAC soldiers were placed on a monument in both Turkish and English.
The Australian government built a small Atatürk Memorial Garden in the capital Canberra and the words of Atatürk which we mentioned earlier (see section on the Historical National Park tour) were inscribed on the monument placed there. On the monument is there also is a relief of the face of Atatürk. In addition, part of the shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra was called Gelibolu. Moreover, part of the port of Albany in Western Australia was named after the Turkish leader.
It was from this port that the Australians and New Zealanders sailed on their way to Egypt and ultimately for the Gallipoli Campaign. For many Australians it was the last sight of home.
Similar gestures of friendship to these have been made by all three governments. 
The animosity that began with this merciless war and which cost lives of so many soldiers has now been transforming into friendship

Who were the ANZACs?
In fact there are no such countries or ethnic groups called the ANZACs. There was never one, despite what some Turks believe. In World War One, the British combined the Australian and New Zealand forces, all of whom had volunteered to fight for the British Empire and had been transferred to Egypt for training, into an army corp.
The Australian forces were called Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) and the title for the New Zealand forces was the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces (NZEF). On being joined together during their training in the Egyptian deserts they were named the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The acronym of this title was ANZAC.

The ANZACs in the Gallipoli Campaign
Just before dawn on April 25, the ANZACs, most of whom were young, leaptfrom small boats onto the shore of an area of the peninsula known as Arıburnu (Bee Point). They knew that they would land on this beach and that they would jump into shallow waters. They certainly wanted to be heroes. However, the place they jumped was deep, theirpacks heavy and some were drowned before getting ashore. Though there were only a few Turkish soldiers above the beach, they soon opened a heavy fire. The first wave of Australian troops, finding they had been landed in the wrong place, fought their way up the steep hillsuntil their advance was halted by the defenders. The two sides settled down in entrenched positions, with their lines hardly moving for the rest of the campaign.
Now the children and grandchildren of the Turkish and Allied soldiers who tried to kill each other come here and have built a bridge of peace and friendship in this land where there had been so much pain and suffering

The Dawn Service at ANZAC Cove
In the years following the war, the ANZACs who survived from the Gallipoli Campaign and the other battles of World War One, and the relatives of those who had fallen began to come to Çanakkale to attend the Dawn Service held at ANZAC Cove to commemorate their losses.
As the years passed, the number of those who fought at Gallipoli diminished and finally none remain. However, in increasing numbers, the children and grandchildren of the ANZACs continue to visit every year. After the services many stay to wander over the battlefields.
The Australians and New Zealanders who come to the Gallipoli Peninsula for the Dawn Service remember their ancestors. They are joined by many Turks and other foreign visitors, with some thousands attending the Dawn Service and the subsequent services at the Australian and New Zealand monuments. Many of them are travelling thousands of kilometres to be at the services.