Gallipoli peninsula (Turkish: Gelibolu Yarımadası, Greek: Kallipolis) is located in Turkish Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. The name derives from the Greek Kallipolis, meaning -quot;Beautiful City-quot;.
Gallipoli, was a city in the southern part of the Thracian Chersonese now known as the Gallipoli Peninsula, on the right shore, and at the entrance of the Dardanelles.
The region covers 33,000 hectares (330 square kilometres). The geological, archaelogical and environmantal features of the Gallipoli Peninsula have stimulated the region as a popular tourist spot. The Peninsula has been a bridgehead, a barrier and meeting place for different cultures over the centuries.
For nine months in 1915, British and French forces battled the Ottoman Empire - modern Turkey - for control of the Gallipoli peninsula, a small finger of Europe jutting into the Aegean Sea that dominates a strategic waterway, the Dardanelles. By opening the Dardanelles to their fleets, the Allies hoped to threaten the Ottoman capital, Constantinople (now Istanbul) and knock the Turks out of the war.
Among the British forces were the Anzacs - the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps - who landed on the peninsula on 25 April. The landing , was ambitious and ultimately unsuccessful: the peninsula remained in its defenders' hands.
The campaign was a costly failure for the Allies: 44,000 British and French soldiers died, including over 8700 Australians. Among the dead were 2721 New Zealanders - approximate one-quarter of those who fought on Gallipoli. Victory came at a high price for the Turks: 87,000 men died in the campaign which became a defining moment in Turkish history.
Gallipoli Peninsula
To honor about 500.000 soldiers, who gave their lives on the gallipoli peninsula ( gallipoli campaign) during World War I, the southern half of the peninsula now acts as a national park preserving that time in the history. This is the spirit that shows no war is cause for permanent hostilities but can serve as a basis for friendships as well '. The region covers 33,000 hectares (330 square kilometres). The geological, archaelogical and environmantal features of the Gallipoli Peninsula have stimulated the region as a popular tourist spot.
The Peninsula has been a bridgehead, a barrier and meeting place for different cultures over the centuries. Each year thousands of tourists particularly from Australia, and New Zealand join the ANZAC day festivies. It is a profoundly emotional experience in a place where the national identities were forged. The Gallipoli Peninsula is equally revered as a site of remembrance by the allies (Britain, France and India) and by the Turkish people who suffered a quarter of a million casualties in defending their homeland against the allied invasion.
Anzac Day (April 25th) is a national day of commemoration in both Australia and New Zealand. The Anzac landings were the first occasion where the soldiers of these two fledgling nations fought together and created a legend that survives to this day.
Gallipoli campaign can be considered as one of the most ciritcal event in the first world war and has a long and memorable history. The peninsula's rugged landscape and historic towns provide the backdrop to the battlefields of 1915, places of heroism and sacrifice which are of immense national significance to Turks, Australians and New Zealanders.
The results of the the Gallipoli campaign was appalling. 26,111 Australian casualties of whom 8,141 were killed. In addition, New Zealand suffered 7,571 casualties of whom 2,431 were killed. Britain endured 21,255 dead over 120,000 casualties, while French troops lost about 10,000 over 27,000 casualties. India and Newfoundland lost 1350 and 49 soldiers respectively. The Turkish lost about 80.000 soldiers over 220,000 casualties
Today Gallipoli peninsula serves as a national park nearby Canakkale, where several war memorials and cemetaries belonging to Turks, Australians, New Zealanders, British and French reflect the drama of those days. Every April the 25th, thousands of people from those countries meet here to commemorate the Gallipoli Campaign. Scuba-diving to the shipwrecks is also possible in the cool water of lovely Dardanelles.