Gallipoli Peninsula

Overview

Today, the Gallipoli (Gelibolu) Peninsula battlefields are protected landscapes covered in pine forests and fringed by idyllic beaches and coves. However, the bloody battles fought here in 1915 are still alive in Turkish and foreign memories and hold important places in the Turkish, Australian and New Zealand national narratives. Australians and New Zealanders view the peninsula, now protected as the Gallipoli Campaign Historic Site, as a place of pilgrimage, and visit in their tens of thousands each year; they are outnumbered by Turks who, drawn by the legend of the courageous 57th regiment and its commander, Mustafa Kemal (the future Atatürk), also travel here in ever-increasing numbers to pay their respects.