Niyazi Dalyanci
Why don’t we have war monuments for the fallen Greeks during the Anatolian Campaign 1919-1922 as the monuments in Gallipoli for more than 44,000 British, French and ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) who lost their lives fighting the Turks in 1915? This question came from an unexpected source, namely a retired Colonel A. Ihsan Gurcan who currently lives in Izmir and writes articles for a local magazine.
Gurcan who landed on Cyprus with the Turkish Army in July 1974 believes that such monuments and tombs bring peace and friendship between the foes of the past.
“When I landed in Cyprus in 1974, the area given under my command was inhabited only by women and children. I remember the fear in their eyes. They were scared that we were going to harm them,” wrote Gurcan in his article published in Izmir Life.
“Fear of death emanated from these eyes, especially the young. After seeing those images I started thinking, ‘What are we making war for?’” says Gurcan.
The retired army colonel is serious about his project. He is so serious that he even proposes three separate locations in Western Anatolia for the monuments to be built in the memory of the fallen Greeks during the Greek-Turkish War of 1919-1922 which ended with the defeat of the Greek Armies. Unlike the Gallipoli Campaign, the Greek casualties of the Anatolian Campaign are not known definitely. Since civilians also perished during the fighting estimates put the number of dead from 300,000 to 700,000.
The locations Gurcan is proposing for the erection of three monuments are quite symbolic too. The first location is the Allioren area of Kutahya where a concentration of Greek army camped, the second is the Kiziltas stream where the 5th Brigade of the Greek Army was encircled by the Turkish forces and the third is the Calkoy where the Greek armies put up their last resistance in the face of the Turkish offensive.
Gurcan says when he went to Gallipoli and Dardanelles and saw the Turkish, British, French and Anzac tombs and monuments and more than 100,000 people coming from abroad to visit them he thought, “These people are also bringing peace with them.”
More than 200,000 soldiers on both sides lost their lives during the Gallipoli Campaign launched by the Allies in World War I with total number of casualties reaching 350,000. An Allied Naval force attempted to pass through the Dardanelles Straits and occupy Istanbul, the seat of the Ottoman Empire that had allied itself with the Germans and open the supply routes to Czarist Russia that was fighting on the side of French and British. But when the naval offensive failed to break Turkish defenses, the Allies landed troops on 25 March 1915 on Gallipoli and Dardanelles. The fighting lasted for eight months and resulted with the withdrawal of Allied troops. Mustafa Kemal, a young officer in the Ottoman army then, was one of the commanders of the defending force.
Those fallen in Gallipoli have become peace symbols
There are 31 cemeteries for fallen Allied soldiers in Gallipoli maintained by The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Because many of those killed and those buried at sea, there is no known grave. These men’s names are each recorded on one of the five “memorials to the missing; the Lone Pine Memorial commemorates Austrialians killed in the ANZAC sector; whilst the Lone Pine, Hill 60 and Chunuk Bair (Canak Bayir) mamorials commemorate the New Zealanders killed at Anzac Bay.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is responsible for developing and maintaining permanent cemeteries for all Commonwealth forces—United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, Newfoundland and others. There are 31 CWGC cemeteries on the Gallipoli peninsula: six at Helles (plus the only solitary grave), four at Suvla and 21 at Anzac. For many of those killed, and those who died on hospital ships and were buried at sea, there is no known grave. These men’s names are each recorded on one of five “memorials to the missing”; the Lone Pine Memorial commemorates Australians killed in the Anzac sector; whilst the Lone Pine, Hill 60, and Chunuk Bair Memorials commemorate New Zealanders killed at Anzac. The Twelve Tree Copse Memorial commemorates the New Zealanders killed in the Helles sector, and British and other troops (including Indian and Australian) who died in the Helles sector are commemorated on the memorial at Cape Helles.
On the dawn of March 25, each year a Dawn Ceremony is held at the Anzac Bay with the participation of dignitaries, politicians, high-ranking officers as well as tens and thousands of visitors from Australia, New Zealand and Britain who hold vigil at these 31 cemeteries.
Ataturk’s Message
High on the hill, embossed on two marble slabs stands Kemal Ataturk’s message in English and Turkish for those who have fallen at Gallipoli.
The message reads:
“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.”