An evening of classical music was held last week to mark the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli.
The concert, held with the theme “Grief speaks the same language”, saw performances of English and Turkish pieces that marked the First World War battles of a hundred years previously.
The first performance of the evening was the Çanakkale Oratorio of 1915, prepared by the Azerbaijani composer Vasıf Adıgüzelov, which included Bülent Külekci (tenor voice), Birgül Su Ariç (soprano), Ceren Mirza Küçük (mezzo soprano) and Ahmet Sait Karabulut on the piano.
It was followed by three pieces written by the British composer William Denis Browne, who died at a very young age during the war, with performances from the tenor Matthew Sandy and Ceri Owen on the piano. The concert was concluded with poetry from the Turkish actor Hakan Silahsızoğlu and a British counterpart, Jamie Laird.
The audience was filled with Turkish and British people, as well as the ambassadors of Russia, Tunisia, Bangladesh and the Turkish ambassador Abdurraham Bilgiç.
Also present was Turkish consul general Emirhan Yorulmazlar, Turkish Cypriot representative Oya Tuncalı, members of the Gallipoli Association and descendants of the Ottoman ruling family Murad Osmanoğlu, Ayşe Gülnev Osmanoğlu, Mahmud Namık Osmanoğlu and Ömer Abdülmecid Osmanoğlu.
Gallipoli centenary events will continue on 27 April with a panel discussion between John Crowe and the Australian author Simon Kleinig.