“Yonder a maid and her wight
Come whispering by
War’s annals will fade into night
Ere their story die”
Thomas HardyMay be a memorial bears the significant events of war; however, civilization will keep the events of peach in mind. Same is the case with Ataturk Memorial, Wellington. Situated on a ridge above Tarakina Bay, this is a memorial to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who was the commander of the Turkish forces at Gallipoli. Besides, this heritage / nationhood attraction site is also famous for its magnificent landscape of the Gallipoli Peninsula. The monument is the outcome of an accord between the Turkish, Australian and New Zealand governments over the renaming of Gallipoli peninsula as Anzac Cove in memory of the Australian and New Zealand troops who died there in 1915 during the Gallipoli Campaign of World War One.
Ataturk Memorial, Wellington was planned by Ian Bowman and the Turkish Minister of Agriculture unveiled this on Anzac Day 1990. The Memorial is consisted of a marble crescent, a bust of Atatürk, inscriptions and soil from Anzac Cove. Later in the year 1999, again Bowman designed a paved forecourt and path. Moreover, car parking areas were added with funding from the Turkish Government. Every year on Anzac Day the inscription written by Atatürk in 1934 is read by the Turkish Ambassador. The text is as follows: Those heroes who shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours. You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosoms and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they become our sons as well.
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