CANAKKALE (A.A) - 25.04.2002 - Anzacs commemorated their ancestors at Dawn Ceremony upon the 87th anniversary of Canakkale Battles early on Thursday.
Australian Governor General Peter Hoolingworth, Australian Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, Australian Naval Forces Commander David Shackleton, New Zealander Conservation Minister Sandra Roze Lee and Canakkale Deputy Governor Halil Yavuz Kaya participated in the ceremony held at Anzac Cove in Gelibolu (Gallipoli) peninsula.
The ceremony took place at 05.30 a.m. in Anzac Cove when the landing of Anzacs (Australian and New Zealand volunteers) started 87 years ago.
Flowers were put in the Anzac Monument, and people prayed for the soldiers.
Addressing thousands of tourists who watched the ceremony, Australian Governor General Peter Hoolingworth said that ''What we feel here is too deep for words, too complex, a mix of sadness and futility, of gratitude and pride.'' Canakkale battles determined the future of Australia, he said.
''When our soldiers firstly came to these lands, they thought their task would be easy, yet they confronted the great resistance of Turkish soldiers. We understood that wars were not good. As Mustafa Kemal Ataturk said the Anzac soldiers and Turkish soldiers lie side by side here. Our soldiers are Turkey's children today. The soldiers of Turkish and Anzacs saluted each other, exchanged photographs and cigarettes, food and messages during the war,'' Hollingworth said.
Sandra Rose Lee, the New Zealander Conservation Minister said in her part that ''The young New Zealanders who landed here 87 years ago came ashore late in the morning. This is where the Anzac tradition began, on that first day of the Gallipoli ordeal. Today we remember the bravery of all the soldiers who fought here.''
Later one Turkish and one Australian officer read out the message of Ataturk for Anzacs.