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Ataturk StonePrint Page Print this page

10-July-2016
10-July-2016

Photographs supplied by Peter F Williams / Roger Johnson

The monument is a replica of the Ataturk Stone in Gallipoli, which records the words of the first president of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, where he comforted the mothers of the soldiers lost at war that their sons were at rest in the soil of a friendly country.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–10 November 1938) was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the modern Turkish state.

Atatürk was a military officer during World War One. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War One, he led the Turkish national movement in the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies. His military campaigns gained Turkey independence.

In 1934 Atatürk wrote a tribute to the ANZACs killed at Gallipoli:

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.

Location

Address:Oberon & Dudley Streets, Military Museum, Oberon, 2787
State:NSW
Area:Foreign
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -33.704721
Long: 149.862749
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW1

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Saturday 18th December, 2010
Front Inscription

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.

Plaque :

These are the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Commander of the 19th Div. 5th Army  who fought against the ANZAC Forces in defence of the Gallipoli Peninsular 1915

Later to become the 1st President of modern Turkey

 

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au