Turkey's Erdoğan commemorates martyrs of Gallipoli Battle on anniversary of Çanakkale Victory

Turkey on Friday observed the Çanakkale Victory and Martyrs' Day, which marks the anniversary of a key 1915 victory during World War I.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan commemorated the soldiers killed during the campaign, saying that the Battle of Gallipoli was a "testimony to the bravery of our nation."

"The Çanakkale Land Battles are a great heroic epic which displays our nation's highest virtues of patriotism, sacrifice, and courage," he said.

Saying that the victory in Çanakkale is significant not only for Turkey but also for far-flung regions of the Balkans, Middle East and other places, Erdoğan said: "Çanakkale expresses our shared fellowship."

"Along with our own children, I would like to see the youth of the Balkans and Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia all come along here to get to know about their ancestors," Erdoğan added.

GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN

Tens of thousands of soldiers died in one of the world's most ferocious battles 106 years ago, in the Gallipoli campaign in the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

The battle took place between April 25, 1915 and Jan. 9, 1916.

Britain and France wanted to secure their ally Russia, as the Gallipoli Peninsula provides a sea route to what was then the Russian Empire.

Their aim was to capture Istanbul, then capital of the Ottomans.

The Turks repelled a naval attack, and there were thousands of casualties on both sides during the eight-month offensive.

When the land campaign also failed, the invading forces withdrew.

Victory against the Allied forces boosted the morale of the Turkish side, which then went on to wage a war of independence in 1919-1922, and eventually formed a republic in 1923 from the ashes of the old empire.