Thousands of people from Australia and New Zealand gathered Monday in northwestern Turkey to pay their respects to their ancestors who lost their lives on the battlefields at Çanakkale 96 years ago. As dawn broke at 5:30 a.m., exactly the time when the troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, they sang hymns and sent prayers to their beloved ones.

The gathering was to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Çanakkale, also known as the Gallipoli Campaign, in World War I and the thousands of Austalian and New Zealand Army Corps, or Anzac, soldiers who died during the battles.

Australian Cabinet Member for Veterans´ Affairs Warren Snowdon said at the ceremony that the unwinnable and bloody war became a defining moment in their efforts to create a national identity. He said the war also laid the foundations of friendly relations among Turkish, Australian and New Zealand people.

Source: here