"At a mile distant their thousand hooves were stuttering thunder, coming at a rate that frightened a man - they were an awe inspiring sight, galloping through the red haze - knee to knee and horse to horse - the dying sun glinting on bayonet points..." Trooper Ion Idriess
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Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra, Part 1 Topic: Gen - Ataturk Pk, CNB
Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra
Part 1
About the Ataturk Memorial Garden
Ataturk Memorial Garden (left) seen from the steps of the Australian War Memorial
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In a remarkable tribute to forge a reconciliation between two peoples, who quite by accident, fought against each other. Neither knew about the other in any sense of the term. To the Australians, Turkey could have been on another planet. Few had heard of the place and even fewer had visited. The same was true for the Turks in relation to Australia.
Now some 90 years later, without this conflict, it is doubtful that Turkey would have forged the links to Australia through a shared history and more importantly, a shared people, there being many Australians now of Turkish origin. One thing that became clear to all people of various generations, we also share many community values.
To celebrate our shared position in the world and to put any residual enmity to rest, in 1985, 70 years after the Gallipoli expedition, Ataturk Park was opened. It was not put in a tiny or hidden spot but takes pride of place in the central celebration of Australian nationhood. It is located just below the Australian War Memorial and looks down Anzac Parade towards Lake Burley Griffith and Parliament.
The above picture demonstrates the location of Ataturk Park as seen from the steps of the Australian War Memorial. Facing onto Anzac Parade, it looks over all the civic buildings of the nation's capital and onto the snow peaked mountains to the right of the picture.
Ataturk Memorial Garden seen from the entrance on the corner of Anzac Park and Gullett Street.
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The above picture gives the actual entrance to the Ataturk Memorial Garden. While the name Anzac on the street is self explanatory, the other street name, "Gullett" is pregnant with meaning. Harry Gullett was the man who immortalised the light horsemen in describing their conflicts with the Turks during the Great War.
Gullett, HS, The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914–1918.
The location of the Ataturk Memorial Garden has been well thought out to give maximum honour to all peoples who celebrate the close ties between two nations who once knowing each other, have wished to remain good friends.
Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra, Part 2 Topic: Gen - Ataturk Pk, CNB
Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra
Part 2
A Walk Through the Park
Ataturk Memorial Garden and the Australian War Memorial
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After a walk through the copse of gum trees, the walk opens up to reveal a grassy space with the Ataturk Memorial Garden overlooked by the Australian War Memorial.
The Kemal Ataturk Plaque
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The plaque reads:
Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938) commander of the 19th Infantry Division led the Turkish troops who resisted the ANZAC soldiers advancing from the Ari Burnu landings at Gallipoli. As the founder and first President of modern Turkey, Mustaf Kemal Ataturk is regarded as the 'father of the nation'. This memorial designed by architecture firm PDCM Pty Ltd, honours Kemal Ataturk and also the heroism and self-sacrifice of both the ANZAC and Turkish troops taking part in that bitterly fought campaign.
The memorial consists of a crescent-shaped wall on a circular paved are. The form of the wall reflects the crescent and five-pointed star of the Turkish flag. At the centre of the memorial, placed in a time capsule, is soil from the battlefields of Gallipoli.
Centrally located on the wall is a bronze likeness of Ataturk - a gift of the Turkish government by the Turkish sculptor Hüseyin Gezer. The inscription beneath - Ataturk's own words - pays warm tribute to the ANZACs and reflects his understanding of the awful cost of war. Surrounding the memorial are pine trees, Pinus halepensis, grown from seed collected from the Gallipoli 'lone pine'.
For the usual audience, a plaque was erected between the two flags detailing the reason for the park. It is well workth reading.
Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra, Part 3 Topic: Gen - Ataturk Pk, CNB
Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra
Part 3
About Ataturk
Entering Ataturk Memorial Garden.
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The above picture is of the full memorial. The five red pillars, each representing the points of the star upon the Turkish flag, stand as sentinels, overlooking the scene. While appearing large when close up, at a distance they are subsumed by the gum trees surrounding the garden. It is a similar message to that of Ataturk. The memorial is part of Australian soil. The sons of Turkey are also remembered in friendly soil.
Ataturk Memorial Garden bilingual explanatory sign.
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The sign reads:
Ataturk Memorial Garden
In 1985, Seventy years after the Gallipoli Campaign of World War 1, the Turkish Government agreed to recognise the name "Anzac Cove" for the place on the Gallipoli Peninsula where the first Australian and New Zealand troops landed, on 25 April 1915.
In return for this gesture, the Australian Government established this memorial garden which honours the heroism and self-sacrifice that distinguished both the ANZAC and Turkish troops who took part in that bitterly fought campaign.
Kemal Ataturk (1881 - 1938) was founder and first President of modern Turkey, and leader of Turkish forces in the Gallipoli Campaign. The words inscribed on the memorial are Ataturk's tribute to those Anzacs who did not return from Gallipoli.
One noticable item is that most information at the Ataturk Memorial Garden is the number of bilingual signs.
The Creation Story.
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The plaque reads:
Soil from Anzac Cove, Turkey was placed beneath this plaque at the commemoration of this memorial on 25 April 1985, the 70th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli, by His Excellency Mr. Vahit Halefoğlu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey in the presence of the Honourable Gordon Scholes, Minister for Territories and Acting Minister for Veterans' Affairs of the Commonwealth of Australia and the Honourable Frank O'Flynn, Minister for Defence and Associate Minister for Foreign Affairs, New Zealand.
In the centre of the courtyard described by stone semi circular wall is a plaque giving a full explanation of the construction impetus behind the Ataturk Memorial Garden.
Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra, Part 4 Topic: Gen - Ataturk Pk, CNB
Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra
Part 4
Ataturk and his words
The Ataturk Memorial.
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This marvelous piece of public sculpture is very embracing. With Ataturk the centrepiece, the semi circular wall, symbolic of the crescent, appears as though they are like arms embracing all who enter.
Ataturk's Gallipoli Monument Quotation.
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It 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 now here in this country of ours... you, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway 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.
Ataturk's quotation on the Gallipoli Monument is so universal in sentiment that it translates well into any other language.
Ataturk's poignant statement becomes filled with meaning when the casualty lists are examined. Older Anglophone histories ignore this call but as time has gone on, the name "Turk" has moved from being an amorphous but unidentifiable word to names of actual men. On this site, the aim is to humanise both sides of the conflict. In doing so, a revised casualty list from the futile charge of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade at the Nek on 7 August 1915 has been produced which includes all the known names from the British, Australian and Turkish soldiers who died as a consequence of that day. The composition of the list truly reflects Ataturk's sentiments.
While this is an end to the presentation of the Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra, it is not an end to a long relationship which will remain so long as these two nations exist.
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