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Anzac Day commemoration ceremonies on
April 25th are an important event in
Turkey.
Before the release of Peter Weir's
film Gallipoli,
starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, the battlefields
of the Gallipoli peninsula were not on Turkey's tourist route.
"Except for the occasional organized
tours not more than half a dozen visitors
arrive from one year's end to the other," wrote
Alan Moorehead in his book Gallipoli (1956).
All that changed drastically after
the film's release in 1981.
The commemoration of ANZAC
Day (for Australia
New Zealand Army Corps) is now
a major event on
Turkey's tourism calendar.
More than 10,000 visitors may
descend on the towns of Çanakkale, Eceabat and Gelibolu in
the week surrounding that day, packing
local hotels, straining local transport,
and keeping police busy collecting
inebriated celebrants who occasionally
get into brawls.
The
premier event of the commemorations
is a dawn remembrance service at Lone
Pine and Chunuk
Bair (the Australian and
New Zealand memorials) attended by
diplomats, high military officers,
descendants of those who fought here,
and thousands of curious visitors.
The
commemorations and a visit to the
battlefields on April 25th can be
a touching experience, but to avoid
a logistical nightmare you
must plan in advance. You'd be well
advised to join an organized
tour, if only because tour
companies reserve most of the hotel
rooms well in advance. At
other times of year you can take
an overnight
excursion from Istanbul,
but you shouldn't plan on doing it
yourself on Anzac Day without extensive
preparations and ironclad
reservations for everything.
For
more info on the annual Anzac
Day commemorations and activities (April
24th & 25th), see these websites:
Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade
Australian
Department of Veterans' Affairs
Australian
Anzac Commemorative Site
New
Zealand History
Gallipoli
Battlefields
Gallipoli
Battlefield Tours
Self-Guided
Hiking Tour of Gallipoli Battlefields
Maps
of Gallipoli, Çanakkale & Thrace
Çanakkale
Excursion
by Car from Istanbul to Troy & Gallipoli
Excursion
by Bus from Istanbul to Troy & Gallipoli
Day-Trip from Istanbul to
Gallipoli & Return
Six-Day Self-Drive Tour: Istanbul
& Gallipoli to Ephesus
Thrace & the
Dardanelles
Sea
of Marmara
Aegean
Turkey
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