The centenary of the Gallipoli landings has been marked at a ceremony in Sydney’s west with the unveiling of the unique Australian Turkish Friendship Wall.
The wall forms part of the traditional Australian War Memorial in Auburn Memorial Park, next to the railway station.
Auburn councillor Semra Batik said the locals wanted something unique to mark the centenary.
“That is what we decided to do as a community here, being very multicultural and having over 5,000 Turkish Australians, we thought this area would be very good to have such a wall,” Cr Batik said.
Cr Batik said the wall was inscribed with the words of the first president of modern day Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who paid tribute to the Anzacs in 1934.
The same words that are inscribed on the Kemal Atatürk Memorial in Canberra and a memorial in Gallipoli itself:
“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.”
Ertunc Ozen from the Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance said Gallipoli was extremely important for modern Turkey.
“It’s an extraordinarily significant battle in Australian history and the Ottoman Empire at that period; [it] represented a struggle for the very existence of Ottoman sovereignty, eventually Turkish sovereignty over those lands,” Mr Ozen said.
“So to recognise the sacrifice that the young men on both sides gave for their ideals, to recognise that there really was another side, and that the other side was defending their homeland is something which I think is a wonderful gesture of goodwill.”
The secretary of the Auburn RSL sub-branch Ron Inglis said the memorial was important for all of the community in Auburn.
“We also recognise that Anzac is also a very significant anniversary for Turkish people,” Mr Inglis said.
“Of course they don’t call it Anzac, but it is a very significant time which they defended their homeland.”
Mr Inglis said it was important for old enemies to become friends.
“I think it’s excellent, I think it’s a fine thing that while we certainly remember the sacrifices of soldiers on both sides and the terrible conditions that they faced, and we certainly honour them for their bravery and sacrifice, but at the same time it’s really wonderful to come together in a community event,” he said.
Mr Inglis said Australians were forgiving people in the long run.
“We’ve put Japanese memorial gardens in a number of places in Australia the town of Cowra, would be one example we could quote there – so becoming on friendly relations with an enemy is in fact quite a common thing here in Australia, and this is the situation in Auburn where we have a large community of Turkish people,” he said.
Cr Batik said Saturday’s event represented a milestone for the community.
“It’s a symbol of forgiveness and it’s a symbol of friendship that grew from the war to this day, and it’s also an acknowledgement of peace and the goodwill of Australia and Turkey and this is what brings them together,” Cr Batik said.
“Receiving the friendship wall will mark the acceptance for many Turkish Australians as well.”
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