THE 103rd anniversary of the Commemoration of the Gallipoli Victory and Martyrs, was commemorated with a ceremony held at the Turkish Air Cemetery in Brookwood, on 18th March.
Turkey’s Ambassador to London Abdurrahman Bilgiç, Consul General of Çınar Ergin, TRNC London Representative Zehra Başaran, Consul Ülkü Alemdar, Armed Forces Attaches, Woking Mayor Graham Cundy, diplomats, non-governmental organizations and citizens attended to the ceremonial event.
Ambassador Abdurrahman Bilgiç, who spoke after a minute of silence and the reading of the Turkish National Anthem, spoke in English and Turkish about the Dardanelles victory and its history stated:
“Çanakkale is an epic of existence that has been engraved with the golden letters of our nation, which our nation has embraced with the spirit of unity and togetherness. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of our Republic, declared that “the Çanakkale Victories”, which summarized the words “saving the present, returning the heroic heroism and grandeur, making this land an eternal homeland for us. Today, here are the most concrete examples of this determination, our martyrs who sustained their eternal rest in Brookwood Cemetery. War of Independence and carried it further.”
After the Ambassador Bilgic, the Armed Forces and the Black Attack Colonel İsmail Candan Aşçı made a speech. In the Aşçı’s speech, the following expressions came to the forefront:
“Victory of Çanakkale; The integrity of the country, the nation’s sovereignty, and independence are the most important proofs of what the Turkish nation can do. This true nation continues to show and show to the whole world that the Çanakkale spirit lives under the influence and will live forever.”