1915 Canakkale victory commemorated in Turkish Cyprus

By Murat Demirci

GIRNE, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) - A ceremony in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Saturday commemorated the 102nd anniversary of the Ottoman naval victory over invading Allied powers in World War I.

TRNC President Mustafa Akinci, Prime Minister Huseyin Ozgurgun, and Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Serdar Denktas attended the ceremony at the Martyrs Memorial on the Girne Peninsula.

Writing in the official Martyrs Memorial Book, Akinci said Turkish soldiers "left everything behind in the prime of their lives with a great sacrifice."

The day is also commemorated as Martyrs Day, to remember every fallen soldier of the Turkish Republic.

Touching on the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, when Turkish Republic soldiers interceded under Turkey’s guarantor status to protect their ethnic kin from violence, Akinci said soldiers gave up their lives "just so Turkish Cypriots could live in these lands freely."

Also writing in the book, Turkey's Ambassador to the TRNC Derya Kanbay called the Victory of Gallipoli "one of the most exceptional heroic sagas in Turkish history."

The Battle of Canakkale was a campaign which eventually turned the tide in favor of the Ottoman Empire fighting against Allied powers.

The 1915 battle took place in the Dardanelles Strait in the Canakkale province's Gelibolu (Gallipoli) district.