'We have warm regard, deep respect for Turkish people'

CANAKKALE, Turkey

New Zealanders have always had warm regard and great respect for the Turkish people, Patsy Reddy, governor-general of New Zealand, said on Tuesday.

Speaking exclusively to Anadolu Agency, Reddy said Turkey and New Zealand have "a particularly strong friendship borne out of that terrible tragedy" during the World War I Gallipoli campaign.

"I'd like to see the relationship between our countries go even stronger, but over the years, we've always had a warm regard and deep respect for the Turkish people," Reddy said.

Reddy was in the northwestern Turkish province of Canakkale, at the Canakkale Strait, to join ceremonies on Wednesday, April 25, marking the 103rd anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign.

The 1915 battle, which took place in Canakkale’s Gelibolu district, marked a turning point in favor of the Turks against the Allied forces during World War I.

Reddy said April 25 means a lot for New Zealanders and Australians, as "we commemorate becoming a nation, becoming independent as a nation."

She said New Zealand and Turkey further share a lot, as Turkish people also commemorate becoming a nation after Gallipoli.

"So that very day April 25, which was the first day that we landed with the Australians on the beaches along the Gallipoli peninsula, is always a national holiday for us," Reddy said, "to signify the terrible tragedy and to make sure that we never forget that terrible tragedy and in particular to make sure that we remember how important it is to protect the peace."

She said Turkish people and New Zealanders share some common values, citing a truce during Gallipoli to collect the bodies of the fallen from the battlefield.

"Both sides realized very soon after the battle that they were brave and they learned a lot about companionship, about caring for each other, about looking after each other, and that grew into respect not only for themselves and their fellow soldiers but those that they were fighting against," Reddy said.

Reddy said that New Zealander and Australian soldiers had been expecting to go to Europe, but they found themselves in a part of the world they had never heard of before.

"The Turks didn't want to be fighting and we didn't want to be fighting," Reddy said, adding that the Battle of Gallipoli "developed the seeds of patriotism and gave us a national spirit."

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 capital, Istanbul.

They started their attack on March 18 -- the day commemorated as 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 Canakkale 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.

Wednesday, April 25, will also see Anzac Day ceremonies which commemorate the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps soldiers who gave their lives a century ago.