Posted 25.04.2012 06:41:12 UTC
Updated 25.04.2012 06:41:12 UTC
A commemorative service known as the Dawn Requiem Mass has been held at the Anzac Bay in Gelibolu as part of the ceremonies marking the 97th anniversary of the Çanakkale Land Battles.
Thousands of Australians and New Zealanders went to Gelibolu from Çanakkale and waited for the service to begin in their sleeping bags.,
Documentaries and interviews pertaining to the War of Dardanelles were shown on big screens while the beginning of the service was awaited.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard who delivered a speech at the service said that Turks had honoured Australians' casualties and considered them as if they were their own children and later made something rarely seen in the pages of history. She said further that Turks had named the bay after the Anzacs in honour of the defeated and that was why Australians had a debt of gratitude to the Republic of Turkey. Gillard also said that no other nation could safeguard their temples and generously host the Australians' holy visits better than the Turkish people.