Kazakhstan marks 104th anniversary of Canakkale Victory

By Aliia Raimbekova

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AA) - A commemoration ceremony on Monday was held in Kazakh capital Astana to mark the 104th anniversary of Canakkale Naval Victory Day.

The Battle of Canakkale which took place in the northwestern Turkish province of Canakkale's Gelibolu (Gallipoli) district in 1915 marked a turnaround in favor of the Turks against the Allied forces during World War I.

Addressing the ceremony, Turkey's Ambassador to Kazakhstan Nevzat Uyanik said that the Canakkale Victory was the fight of Turkish nation to "remain on the stage of history, to preserve its existence and dignity".

Uyanik also said the Battle of Canakkale -- which left over 250,000 soldiers martyred-- showed the bravery and human values of Turks to the world.

The victory is a "glorious epic" and a lesson to the today's world which suffers from Islamophobia, terrorism and all forms of extremism, he stressed.

The ceremony which started with a moment of silence and performance of the national anthem of both countries, was attended by diplomats and representatives of Turkish institutions operating in Kazakhstan.

The event was followed with film screening and poem recitation by the Turkish language course students of Yunus Emre Institute, Turkish cultural center, in Astana.

- Historic legacy

The events leading up to the momentous battle started in February 1915, when Britain and France decided to launch the Gallipoli Campaign to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war as quickly as possible by reaching and capturing its then capital, Istanbul.

They started their attack on March 18 -- the day, which is commemorated today as the Canakkale Naval Victory Day -- but the waters were filled with a network of mines laid by Ottoman vessels.

On April 25, allied soldiers landed on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula. The troops were there as part of a plan to open the Dardanelles Strait on Turkey's Aegean coast to Allied fleets, allowing them to threaten the Ottoman capital.

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

Tens of thousands of Turkish nationals and soldiers died, along with tens of thousands of Europeans, plus around 7,000-8,000 Australians and nearly 3,000 New Zealanders, referred together as Anzac troops.

Victory against the Allied forces boosted the morale of the Turkish side, who then went on to wage a war of independence between 1919 and 1922, and eventually formed a republic in 1923 from the ashes of the old empire.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev