Australian lawmakers visit Turkish Red Crescent

By Omer Faruk Yildiz and Muhammed Emin Canik

ANKARA (AA) - Nine Australian lawmakers visited the Turkish Red Crescent’s Ankara center on Friday.

The MPs were in Turkey as part of the commemorations for the 103rd anniversary of the landing of foreign troops on Turkish soil during World War I.

Red Crescent Deputy General Manager Alper Kucuk and its officials informed the lawmakers on the aid agency’s activities.

"No other western country did what Turkey did to help the Syrians. We were very pleased to see these benefits. Turks see Syrians as guests, not migrants. This is quite important,” Australian MP of Turkish origin Natalie Suleyman told Anadolu Agency during the visit.

"We have much to learn from Turkey. Turkey’s embracing, and providing opportunities for, refugees really teaches us a lot,” said another MP Mark Gepp.

On April 25, 1915, nine months into World War I, Allied soldiers landed on the shores of the Gelibolu peninsula, Canakkale.

The troops were there as part of a plan to open Canakkale Strait on Turkey's Aegean coast to Allied fleets, allowing them to threaten the then-Ottoman capital, Istanbul.

The Allied Forces, however, encountered strong and courageous resistance from the Turks and the campaign turned out to be a costly failure.