Canakkale Martyrs Monument
Famagusta, North Cyprus
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Canakkale Martyrs Monument |
Canakkale is a town on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles, and is the
name by which the Turkish know the Gallipoli campaign of the First World
War.
The battle is seen as significant in Turkey. It was a final defence of
the Ottoman Empire, and laid the foundations for the Turkish War of
Independence, under the leadership of Ataturk, himself one of the senior
commanders at Gallipoli.
In 1915, the supply routes to Russia through Europe were effectively
closed. The only alternative was through the Black Sea, but that had
also been closed when the Ottoman Empire had joined the Central Powers
in October 1914..
The allies, therefore, decided to take Istanbul, in order to protect the
sea route to Russia, and on the 18th March a naval bombardment was
launched, targeting the Dardanelles, where the straights are just a mile
wide.
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Canakkale Graves |
This attack was repulsed by an unexpectedly strong force, and the allies
were forced to retreat, realising that naval forces alone would not
defeat the Ottomans. This laid the grounds for the disastrous Gallipoli
landings a month later. By the end of the campaign, which lasted for
nearly a year, the allies had over 141,000 soldiers killed and wounded,
while the Ottomans had 195,000.
As Britain had annexed Cyprus when the Ottomans joined the central
powers in 1914, they soon found a use for the island as a prisoner of
war camp. Around 2000 Ottomans were held near Famagusta, many of them
captured in the Dardanelles., and shipped there in 1916.
Conditions in the campswere harsh. Food was poor, and contemporary
accounts tell of the prisoners going barefoot with torn clothes. Some
217 Turkish POWs died while in detention, some from the bad conditions,
and some were shot while trying to escape.
These soldiers are known as the Canakkale Martyrs, as they were captured
during the Canakkale Campaign. In the cemetery in Famagusta there is a
memorial to them. Thirty three are in individual graves, with the
remaining 184 being in one mass grave.
Of the surviving POWs, some elected to remain in Cyprus, while
others were repatriated to Turkey in 1920. Back to
Famagusta index. |