Australia, New Zealand gather in Turkiye to commemorate WWI battle

Officials and visitors from Australia, New Zealand and Turkiye gathered in northwest Turkiye on Saturday to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli. The solemn ceremony began at 5:30 am local time near a beach where the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, or Anzacs, first landed at Gallipoli at dawn on April 25, 1915.

The hour-long event included mournful hymns, prayers and the laying of wreaths by the participants, which included representatives from many countries around the world.

The Gallipoli campaign, part of a British-led effort to defeat the Ottoman Empire, ultimately failed, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides during the eight-month conflict. It aimed to secure a naval route from the Mediterranean Sea to Istanbul through the Dardanelles and knock the Ottomans out of the war.