To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli war, the House of Lords hosted a ‘friendship tea’.
The tea hosted in the House by Baroness, Meral Hussein-Ece, was attended by many important figures, names: Turkish Ambassador, Abdullah Bilgic; Consul General, Emirhan Yorulmaz; Deputy leader of the House of Lord and minister of state defence, Earl Howe; New Zealand’s high commissioner, Sir Lockwood Smith; Sir Winston Churchill’s grandchild’s son, Randolph Churchill; representatives from Canada and Australia; large number of Lords, MPs and representatives from NGOs – and other organisations.
Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece kick started the ‘tea’ with an opening speech: “There are people here who have direct links to the Gallipoli war. When we look into what is now happening in the Middle-East, we can see clearly that people have not taken any lessons from tragedies like Gallipoli.”
Abdullah Bilgic argued that the war was a new beginning. “The pulling out of troops was beyond just an end to a war, it was the beginning of something new.”
Defence Minister, Earl Howe, honoured the “[Genius Ataturk]”. “The biggest thing left over from this war is Ataturk’s Military genius and Modern Turkey.”
High Commissioner, Sir Lockwood Smith, said he owes his existence to the Gallipoli war, for his Grandmother’s fiancé died during the war which led her to marry Lockwood’s grandfather: “If the war did not happen, I would not have existed. My Grandmother’s love is lying with the dead soldiers of the war”.
