Princess Anne attended a solemn ceremony in Türkiye to commemorate the 110th anniversary of World War I
Turkey Canakkale (AP) – Princess Anne of Britain, Prime Minister of New Zealand and Australian governor gathered near the battlefields of World War I on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey at a dawn ceremony on Friday in honor of Australian and New Zealand soldiers who died in a tragic campaign 110 years ago.
The party took place on dawn on April 25, 1915, near the beaches of Australian and New Zealand troops or Anzacs.
As the sun began to rise, the rituals in Turkey in the northwest began with sad Maori lamenting, setting the tone for solemn obedience, including prayer and wreath paving.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon talked about the cost of war and the importance of preventing future conflicts.
“The Anzac troops and their brothers went ashore from the shoulders of the brothers halfway up the world. Some expected to venture away from their hometowns. But as the sun rises, the shadows run out of the ditch, not adventure, but horror,” Luxen said.
He added: “If we forget the real lessons of the sport, it will be a damage to those who have courage: we should do everything we can – all our abilities – to prevent things from happening again.”
The sport was part of a British-led effort to defeat the Ottoman Empire and eventually failed, with thousands of deaths on both sides in eight months of conflict. Its purpose was to eliminate the Ottoman Empire from the war through the Dardanelles naval route from the Mediterranean to Istanbul.
As in previous years, travelers from Australia and New Zealanders participated in the Dawn Service on site camping, known as Anzac Cove.
Among them is Glen Lancaster, 61, from Melbourne, Australia, whose great unification took part in the landing of Gallipoli.
Lancaster expressed “excitement and sadness about what happened.
Anne, the sister of King Charles III and chairman of the Commonwealth Grave Commission, read from letters written by some soldiers and paid tribute to the soldiers on both sides of the conflict.
“This is the beginning of an eight-month campaign, which has given and changed the lives of thousands of Australians (and New Zealand, British, French and Ottoman soldiers)” she said.
She also pays homage to the Australian and New Zealand forces that have been involved in various conflict and peacekeeping missions since Gallipoli.
On Thursday, Anne attended a separate ceremony to commemorate British and French soldiers.
The battle helped Australia and New Zealand’s national identity and friendship with their former rival Turkey.
The movement is an important part of Türkiye’s history. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of Modern Turkey, stood out among the commanders of the Turkish army in Gallipoli, continued to lead Turkey’s War of Independence and eventually found the Turkish Republic.
The Turkish Army Lieutenant Colonel Ozkan Selik read from a message from a mother dedicated to the dead soldier: “You, you, the mother who sent your son from a distant country, wiped away your tears; your son is now lying on our chests, lying in our chests, and dying on this land. They are dead on this land.
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Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed to Ankara, Türkiye.
