The Kemal Atatürk Memorial is a memorial directly opposite the Australian War Memorial on Anzac Parade, the principal memorial and ceremonial parade in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, the capital of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is named after

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

(1881–1938) who, as a Lieutenant Colonel, commanded the Ottoman 19th Infantry Division when it resisted the

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

(ANZAC) at Arı Burnu on the

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

peninsula in 1915 during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He started the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

, and went on to be the founder of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and its first president, receiving the honorific ''Atatürk'' ("Father of the Turks") by the Turkish parliament. In 1985, seventy years after the Gallipoli Campaign, the Turkish Government recognised the name " Anzac Cove" for the place on the peninsula where the

n and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

troops landed on 25 April 1915. In return for this gesture, the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

established the memorial garden, around the Kemal Atatürk Memorial, that honours the heroism and self-sacrifice of the Turkish and Anzac soldiers who took part in that bitterly fought campaign. This is the only memorial to an enemy commander on Anzac Parade.

Design

The memorial consists of a crescent shaped wall on a circular paved area. The form of the wall reflects the crescent

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

and five-pointed star of the Turkish flag. In the centre of the memorial is a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...

containing soil from the battlefields of Gallipoli. It was designed originally by architecture firm PDCM. Centrally located in the wall is a bronze likeness of Atatürk – a gift of the Turkish government by Turkish sculptor Hüseyin Gezer. The inscription, attributed to Atatürk, pays tribute to his former foes and reflects his understanding of the cost of war: AS Kemal Ataturk 3

The quote honours all former enemy soldiers who have died in Turkey. There is however some doubt as to whether the words are Atatürk's. Surrounding the memorial are

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

trees ''Pinus halepensis'' grown from seed collected from the Gallipoli lone pine.

2007 refurbishment

The memorial was refurbished in 2007 and rededicated in time for

Anzac Day Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and ...

(25 April). The pavement was altered to incorporate a larger five pointed star motif as used in the flag of Turkey, to match the existing wall in the form of the crescent moon. At the points of the star five pink-

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

columns matching the granite used for the central sculpture. The columns are lit at night. The flags were moved from the side to the front of the memorial. The memorial was designed by PDCM Pty Ltd.

References

External links

Australian Light Horse Studies Centre

Ataturk Memorial Garden, Canberra.

Memorial in New Zealand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemal Ataturk Memorial, Canberra Military memorials in Canberra World War I memorials in Australia Ottoman Empire in World War I Australia–Turkey relations

Turkish-Australian culture

Design

2007 refurbishment

See also

References

External links