Turkish 57th Regiment
The Turkish 57th Regiment was an Anatolian infantry and the main fighting force during the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915. They were led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Republic of Turkey and highly regarded commander. Ataturk headed the counter-attack against the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps when their ships landed at Anzac Cove on the 25th of April 1915. An ANZAC warcraft still lies beneath the water close to the bay and the ruins can be visited by boat.
Constructed in 1992, the 57th Regiment Memorial stands on the lowers slopes of Baby 700 Hill where the conflict took place. The site hosts a symbolic cemetery that commemorates the poignant moment in 20th-century history and the Turk's involvement during the First World War. A series of plaques bare the names of soldiers who lost their lives in the battle.
Below the memorial garden are a statue of an unnamed Turkish soldier and another of Huseyin Kacmaz, Turkey's oldest Gallipoli veteran who lived to the grand age of 108 and passed away in 1994. The statue depicts him as an old man holding the hand of his granddaughter. Nearby stands the Australian Memorial at Lone Pine and New Zealand's Memorial at Chunuk Biar. The sites are frequented by Australians and New Zealanders as well as Turks who come to pay their respects and each year the area becomes packed during the week leading up to Anzac Day, April 25th.
The Turkish 57th Regiment Memorial is situated on the Gallipoli Peninsula, northwest Turkey between the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles Strait, the neighboring towns include Eceabat, Anzac, Gallipoli, and Canakkale. The Gallipoli Peninsula memorials can be visited from any of these towns or Istanbul by public transport or with an organized tour.