GELIBOLU - Anzacs commemorated their ancestors with ''Dawn Ceremony'' upon the 88th anniversary of Canakkale Battles on Friday.
New Zealand Governor-General Silvia Cartwright, Australian Treasurer Peter Costello and Canakkale Deputy Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu attended the ceremony that was held in Anzac Cove in Gelibolu (Gallipoli) peninsula.
Firstly a priest prayed for those who died during Canakkale battles in the ceremony. Later representatives of countries who took part in the battles laid wreaths in the Anzac Monument.
Addressing the ceremony in which approximately 3,000 Australians and New Zealanders participated, New Zealand Governor-General Cartwright said that countries which fought in Canakkale battles were deeply hurt by the war. Canakkale Battles and Gelibolu had been bitter lessons for New Zealand and Australia, she said.
Later one Turkish and Australian officer read the message issued by Ataturk, the founder of modern and secular Turkey for Anzac soldiers.
The message from Ataturk which was sent to the first visitors from Australia, New Zealand and England in 1934 and carved at the Memorial at Anzac Cove is as follows:
''Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore, rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side, here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries... Wipe away your tears. Your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.''
The Memorial was constructed by the Turkish Government in memory of the Anzac soldiers who lie side by side with Turkish soldiers in the Gallipoli Peninsula as a token of friendship for the memorials established and the plaques placed in honour and to the memory of Ataturk in Canberra and Albany by the Australian Government and in Wellington by the New Zealand Government April 25, 1985.
(ÖS-AÖ) 25.04.2003