Mar 08

In 1915 British and French Allied forces landed on the Anzac Cove on the west side of the Gallipoiı peninsula in an attempt to knock out the Ottoman empire out of World War I. The present historical park contains the war cemeteries of the various nations that had seen the same horrors of a stalemate trench warfare that weas so typical in other parts of Europe. Our BC member John from even had a story to tell about his uncle-in-law landing with the British forces in the Anzac Cove in 1915.

So Gallipoli is sacred ground to the Turkish nation (like Suomussalmi for the Finns or Westerplatte for the Poles).

You may stop reading here, but I would like to share the follwing excerpt from a poem displayed at the Gallipoli war memorial:

Mehmet then asked an English soldier
who seemed toı be at the playing age
'how old are you little brother, what brought you here at such an early stage'
'I am fifteen forever', the English soldier said
'ın trhe village from where I come I used to play war with the children
arousing them with my drum
then I found myself in the front
was it real or a game before I could tell
my drum fell silent
as I was struck with a shell'

Bülent Ecevit 1988

But do the Turks carry about any other suppressed memory about WWI? Probably more about this when we get further East...

For the rest of the day we were literally carried by a very strong tailwind along the coastal road to the village of Bolayır. A wind turning into heavy rainfall during the night...

GPS and more photos: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=14001

Visiting the excavation of Troia made a big impression on me (the official spelling is now Troia instead of engl. Troy or germ. Troja). You can read everything about the nine layers of Troia I-IX here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy. But I was very pleased to find so many references to my old university and especially the modern main excavator of Troia Manfred Korfmann, whose lectures on the issue in Tübingen back in 1988 I remember well. In Çannakkale, where we crossed over to the European side of the Dardanelles, I accidentally saw even a Korfmann library.

GPS and more photos: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=13916

Approaching (and passing) the westernmost point of mainland Asia. Rural area , in the higher regions primarily pasture with plenty of sheep and shepherds everywhere. The other feature of this peaceful rural scenery are the many mules that serve as a means of transportation. Despite the large amount of meat on the hoofs it is difficult to find Kebap-places with most of the beach resorts closed in winetrtime. So our most important filling stations are now the tiny food shops in the villages and little towns and of course the cafeterias for the excellent çay. Historıcally significant sight on today,s route is the ruins of Alexandria Troas, a city that once competed with Byzantium for the title of capital of the East Roman Empire in the time of Constantine. Outside the ruin I got interrogated by police (jandarma) because of the road paintings that we produce in order to indicate our nightstay location. In the evening I get a glimpse of TV news on the current Turkish incursions into Iraq.