GELİBOLU’YU ANLAMAK

Did really exist a Pax-Ottomana in the last period of Ottoman administration in the Jerusalem? How was the mood of Jerusalem inhabitants when the Allenby’s campaign began on 31 October 1917? Did German and Austrian churches celebrate the fall of Jerusalem due to religious reasons as some Turkish historians stated? The Crusaders terminology and the British propaganda . Why did zionists despise of Jerusalem Jews? Had not been Cemal Pasa’s opressing policy toward Arabs , the result would have been different? What would be repercussions of Trump’s decision over Jerusalem?  We present an exclusive interview with Roberto Mazza, a historian from Limerick University,Ireland and the Author of “Jerusalem , From Ottomans To British”(IB Taurus 2009) We hope his study will be translated into Turkish . Turkish version of this interview will be aired later. (T.Y)

Churchill’s career as the First Lord of the Admiralty had ended much earlier than the Allied evacuation of the Peninsula by the collapse of Prime Minister Asquith’s government in May 1915. Since that time Churchill has been always in the centre of the debates of Gallipoli because he, — in the eyes of some authors, politicians, and journalists — as a careless adventurist who ignored his naval advisers and colleagues, has been seen sole responsible for the disaster. Professor Christopher Bell’s (Dalhousie University in Halifax/Canada) recent, balanced, and well-analysed study of Churchill and the Dardanelles, however, has evidently changed the ‘conventional wisdom’ about the Churchill’s role in the Dardanelles by clearly stating that he was neither a hero nor a devil. (Y.A.Ö.)

During the Korean War, Turkey, New Zealand and Australia were all on the same side. In Korea, the troops from all these countries in 1953 participated in a procession together for the Anzac Day ceremonies to which General Sırrı Acar was also invited. In 1954, the government of New Zealand applied to its Turkish counterpart to request for inviting a military committee from Turkey to Anzac Day ceremonies. When the request was approved, a committee was assigned from the Turkish garrison in Korea. The committee of four officers included Major Halim Kural, Captain Orhan Aydemir and Captain Şinasi Çapar as well as their commander, a colonel whose name we will also hear later: Cemal Madanoğlu. The news about the arrival of the committee appearing on tens of journal aroused profound interest in New Zealand. The Christchurch Press on its April 23, 1954 issue, for instance, reports that as soon as the committee has arrived they participated in two consecutive functions during which senior soldiers from New Zealand who fought in Gallipoli campaign raced each other to shake hands with them.  (H.O)

George Patton is famous among military historians and modern Soldiers for his aggressive, audacious, relentless, and hard-nosed approach to warfighting.  He is also famous for his study of military history and his extensive library which was full of books with his thoughtful annotations and assessments of Leaders and Generals and campaigns throughout history.  These annotations in his own books, in his own hand-writing, give insight into how he thought, and reveal his sense that he may actually have lived and fought in previous wars throughout history.Lt.Gen Ben Hodges is one of the senior US officer in Europe. He was the head of Allied Land Command (LANDCOM), of which HQ is at Izmir/Turkey, between 2012-2014. He prepared “General Patton’s Gallipoli Staff Study” with Gallipoli Campaign researcher Prof.Haluk Oral. The study published in Turkish by İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları in February 2017

This is a moving real story which has carried Gallipoli’s emotions from the past to today. In Gallipoli Campaign bloody days , Turkish soldiers Ali and Yusuf from 64.Regiment attended a fierce battle with Otago Battalion on Baby 700 area on 2-3 May 1915. After the fighting, Ali found an handkerchief on which it was written “A gift from mother to his son George for his 28th birthday 2 April 1915” This handkerchief belonged to George Tomas Uren , New Zealand Brigade , Otago Battalion. After weeks, Yusuf was seriosly wounded in the 64.Regiment assault on Conkbayırı positions on 7 August 1915. His comrade, best friend Ali tried to stop bleeding with this handkerchief. Just before dying, Yusuf asked Ali that took this bloody handkerchief to his wife. The Bloody Handkerchief has remained as a remembrance in Ali & Yusuf’s grandsons , so far. Turkish Gallipoli Campaign researcher Ömer Arslan wrote this moving news for GeliboluyuAnlamak website. He found Ali’s and Yusuf’s grandsons and took photograph the bloody handkerchief. His research continues on this subject.  

The great Ottoman historian Professor Halil İnalcık passed away on July 25 at the age of 100. İnalcık wrote groundbreaking books and articles on a vast range of themes: social responses to the Tanzimat reforms, peasant economies, methods of Ottoman conquest, the Khanate of Crimea, capital formation in the urban economy, the Ottoman legal order, and Indian Ocean trade. In his prolific career, İnalcık reshaped the field of Ottoman history. There is no doubt that with Köprülü, Wittek, and Barkan, İnalcık was one of the founding fathers of modern Ottoman studies. In the scope and impact of his work, İnalcık is the field’s most influential scholar. (A.Y.)

This article argues that there is no static approach to the meaning of Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey. There is a social dimension that shapes the understanding of the battle continually. The understanding of the battle changes when a rival political group champions on the historiography of the battle. In Turkey, political groups, namely Kemalists and Islamists, contend over the meaning of the battle. This rivalry makes the history of Gallipoli Campaign as a symbolic battle ground between the groups. Since the Turks do not constitute a single political group, Gallipoli Campaign is what the groups make of it. In Turkey, Gallipoli Campaign is a historical heritage that is always under construction. (Ö.Ö.)