GAZZE'de KUDUZ VAR / Yilmaz Gursoy
Önce 14 Temmuz tarihinde Herald Sun gazetesinde Alan Howe imzası ile yayınlanan ve Konsolosluğumuz tarafından Türk toplumuna İngilizcesi yollanan hakaret dolu yazının
Türkçesini veriyorum:

"
Gazze’de kuduz var
Yani bir tür kuduz demek istiyorum. Aslında bu, nefret dolu hain İslamcıların bulaşıcı bir hastalığı. Fakat belirtileri ve teşhisi kuduz ile aynı.İran da bazı kuduz belirtileri gösteriyor – ve diğer birçok Arap ülkesinde olduğu gibi kendilerine yakışan bir biçimde çılgınca havlayan başkan Mahmut Ahmedinejad tarafından yönlendiriliyor.Şu anda ise medeni kalmakta ısrar eden bizler için büyük bir tehlike doğmak üzere; Türkiye de kuduza yakalanmak üzere olabilir.Eğer dünyanın en önemli güvenlik kuruluşu olan Nato’ya üye olan Türkiye de İslamcıların etkisine kapılırsa hepimiz hapı yutarız.Birleşmiş Milletler geçen hafta İran’a karşı yeni yasaklamalar getirdi. Bunların amacı, İsrail’i yok etmeye yönelik nükleer programı için ceza mahiyetini yaşıyordu. Tabii İran İsrail’den sonra roket menzilinde olan diğer demokrasilere de saldıracak.Geçen yıl ‘seçimleri’ çalan sahtekar diktatör Mahmut Ahmedinejad, İsrail ve onun müttefiklerini yok etmeyi planlıyor.Ahmedinejad, 1956 yılının sonlarında bu dünyaya bir pislik gibi geldi ve hemen cehenneme doğru yöneldi. Bu uğraşı sırasında da elinden geldiği kadar masum insanı öldürmeye çalıştı.Kendi standartlarına göre de başarılı oldu. Ajanları, geçen yılın sahte seçinlerini protesto etmek isteyen kahraman çocukları öldürüyor ve onlara tecavüz ediyorlar.Masum insanların vinçlerden asılarak yavaş yavaş boğularak öldürüldüğü halka açık idam sahneleri onun özelliklerinden birisidir.Avustralyalıları hedef almayacağını da düşünmeyin.Geçenlerde ağzından salyalar akarak ‘ İsrail’i tanıyan herkesin İslam ülkesinin(İran) ateşinde yanacağını’ söyledi.Geçen haftaki Birleşmiş Milletler oylamasında Lübnan çekimser kalırken Türkiye İran’ı destekledi. Batı’nın dostu olmayan Çin ve Rusya bile serseri İran aleyhinde oy kulanırken Türkiye bunu yapmadı.Gerçek o ki Türkiye artık dostumuz olmayabilir.Çanakkale’den doğan olağanüstü ortak tarihimize ve oradan gelen Avustralya-Türkiye bağlarına rağmen beş yıl sonra yapılacak olan yüzüncü yılda yeniden düşman olmamız çok mümkün görünüyor. Ama bu defa tehlike çok daha büyük.1915’de Türklere karşı kaybettik. 2010’da kazanmalarına müsaade edemeyiz.Türkler, Truva hikayesine sahip çıktılar. Truva atını görünce tanıyacaklarını sanırsınız. Fakat başbakanlarını ikinci defa seçmeye gelince çuvalladılar. Beş yıl önce ılımlı görünen bu tutucu bütün milleti üçkağıda getirdi.Dünyanın en büyük şehirlerinden İstanbul’un belediye başkanı olarak karizmatik Erdoğan, ulaşım, su ve elektrik sorunlarına çözüm getirdi. ‘Camiler kışlamız, kubbeler miğferimiz, minareler mızrağımız ve müminler neferimiz olacak’ dediği için partisi yasaklanıp kendisi hapse atılmasına rağmen aşırı İslamcı eğilimlerini gizlemeyi yeğledi.Hapisten çıkınca da ‘ılımlı’ AKP’yi kurdu ama şimdi bu AKP yeni bir Truva atını andırıyor.İktidara geldiğinden beri saklamaya çalıştığı gerçek yüzü, geçen ay sözüm ona Gazze halkına yardım götüren Hürriyet Filosunu desteklemesi ile su yüzüne çıktı.Organizatörlerin bile bile felakete yolladığı 663 Gazze ‘dostu’ hayalperest, izinsiz olarak yardım taşımaya kalkıştı. Terör örgütü Hamas’ın kontrolünde olan Gazze, İsrail ve Mısır tarafından ablukaya alınmış durumdadır. Çünkü öevre ülkeler radikal İslamı ihraç etme tehlikesi vardır.Gazze’den İsrail’e yönelik roket saldırıları bunun bir kanıtıdır.Türk bayraklı MV Mavi Marmara, filonun başında giderken İsrail komandoları tarafından durduruldu. Askerler, gemiye inmeden önce şok bombaları attılar.İlginçtir ki, evlerinde hapsedilmiş peçeli karılarını geride bırakıp gelen Müslüman Türk erkeklerinin ‘şehit’ olmaya niyetleri yoktu ve bombalara aldırış etmeyecek şekilde savaş eğitimi almışlardı. Bunlar, dinlerini korumaya çalışan asil Hiristiyanlar gibi şehit olmak niyetinde değillerdi. Bunlar, kızgın ve cani insanlardı ve sınırlarını korumaya çalışan İsrail gibi bir demokratik ülkeden reaksiyon bekliyorladı - aynen Avustralya’nın sınırlarını koruduğu gibi.Türkiyenin lideri Erdoğan, silahsız gönüllülerin öldürülmesini ‘katliam’ olarak niteledi ama işin iç yüzünü o daha iyi bilir.Saldırıda ölenlerin ailelerine ve yakınlarına göre ölenlerin dörtte üçü şehit olmak istiyorlardı. Bu isteklerini yerine getirmesiiçin Allah’a dua etmişlerdi. Sonunda İsrail askerleri, Allah’a fazla iş bırakmayıp onların çoğunu öteki dünyaya yolladı.Yardım filosu hakkında dünyaya yaılıan yalan-yanlış haberlerden birkaç gün sonra İsrail’in iki kasabasına Kassam roketleri yollandı.Kimse ölmedi ama zaten plan bu değildi. Hamasın amacı, bölgeyi taş devrine götürmek için eski düzene dönmekti. "

Alan Howe
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Bu yazıya cevap olarak yazılanları görmek için http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/with-friends-like-these/story-e6frfhqf-1225879165249adresine bakınız.

Melbourne Konsolosluğundan gelen e-mail’de Bu tip yazılara cevap olarak Mevlana felsefesine dayanmaktan, Avustralyalılara kültür çalışmaları ile cevap vermekten dem vuruluyor.
Ben böyle bir yaklaşımı son derece yetersiz buluyorum. 30 yıldır Avustralya’da çalışmış ve basınını iyi tanıyan bir kişi olarak gayet iyi biliyorum ki Batı ülkelerinde size bir tokat atıldığında diğer yanağınızı çevirmezsiniz.

Batıda sessizlik, acizlik demektir. Mevlana, kültür iyi hoş ama Batı’da en geçerli metod ‘göze göz – dişe diş’ tir. Haddini bilmez Alan Howe ağzına gelen hakaretleri sıralıyorsa bizim toplum liderlerimizin de gereken girişimleri medeni ölçüler içinde yapmaları beklenir.
Her şeyden önce bu yazıyı Konsolosluğumuzun tercüme edip yollamasını beklerdim.

Yazının İngilizcesini genelde gençlerimizin çoğu anlayacaktır.
Ancak,onların da Konsolosluk mesajlarına meraklı olmadığını adım gibi biliyorum.. kaldı ki maalesef gençlerimizin çoğunun bu dallarda bezi bile yok.
Geriye kalıyor bizim gibi eskiler.. onların da büyük çoğunluğu bu yazıdaki hakaretleri anlayamazsa nasıl reaksiyon göstersinler?
Neyse, ben reaksiyonumu göstermek için Herald Sun gazetesine bir mesaj yolladım ve dedim ki:

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Her ne zaman fanatik bir demagog tarafından yazılmış bir makale görsem mutlaka Google’a girip bu yazının neden yazılmış olabileceğini araştırırım.

Mr Howe’nin yazısını okuyunca yine aynı şeyi yaptım ve Filistin-İsrail diyalogunu destekleyen bir Yahudi sitesi olan http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/tag/alan-howe-mossad-fan/Sitesinde şu bilgilere rastladım:
‘Rupert Murdoch, Avustralya’nın en büyük günlük gazetesi olan Herald Sun’a baş editör olarak Mossad’ın en büyük destekçilerinden olan Alan Howe’ı getirmiştir’
....’Rupert sayesinde editörlük sandalyesine dev bir Mossad sevdalısı oturtulmuştur’

Sonra oturup Rupert Murdoch’u araştırdım ve annesinin Yahudi olduğunu buldum
( bakınız: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071025102913AAjilr3).

Tevrat kurallarına göre böylece Rupert de teknik olarak Yahudi olmaktadır.

Tevrat’a göre Yahudilik anne tarafından geçer, babadan değil.

Rupert’in yakın dostlarına göz atacak olursanız aşırı sağcı Ziyonist Benjamin Nethenyahu ve Ariel Sharon.

Şimdi Alan Howe’ın arkasındakileri görünce yazısını rahatlıkla hafife alabilirim.
Aslında hiç dikkate bile almam.

Kötü bir iş yaptın Alan. Gelecek sefere okuyucularına biraz daha saygılı olmanı beklerim.

Yilmaz Gursoy

Lutfen asagidaki mektubu asagidaki adreslere gonderiniz:

Gorevli kisiler:
mmacri@buenosaires.gov.ar,
gcba@buenosaires.gov.ar

Arjantin gazete adresleri:
telam@sinectis.com.ar, horaciogustavo47@hotmail.com, redaccion@clarin.com.ar, mcantelmi@clarin.com.ar, info@canal7argentina.com.ar, noticiero@canal7argentina.com.ar, info@america2.com.ar, vvarela@america2.com.ar, info@canal9.com.ar, efrigerio@canal9.com.ar, emiliafrigerio@hotmail.com, info@telefe.com.ar, hgarcia@telefe.com.ar, juanmiceli@artear.com, info@canal13.com.ar, editor@dyn.com.ar, politica@dyn.com.ar, gvucetich@noticiasargentinas.com, administracion@noticiasargentinas.com, dvivot@clarin.com.ar, info@lanacion.com.ar, gscriven@lanacion.com.ar, mmachicado@lanacion.com.ar, ellorente@lanacion.com.ar, info@buenosairesherald.com, economia@buenosairesherald.com, info@veintitres.com, correonoticias@perfil.com.ar ; noticias@perfil.com.ar, alobalzos@perfil.com.ar


Ornek protesto mektubu:

Dear Mauricio Macri and Marcos Pena,

We are extremely disappointed that the Buenos Aires council’s cancelation of the erection of the Ataturk’s designated portrait sculpture. We don’t think that we need Armenian resources for the founder of the Turkish republican of Ataturk. It is more than just enough to read "the foreword" of a book called: "Kemal Ataturk, Constructor de la Nueva Turquia", 1966, Editorial La Mandragora 1966, Editorial La Mandragora'' written by Ambassador Blanco Villalta.
As proved by many academics that Armenian allegations are full of contradictions.
Many historians agreed with that Armenian claims are full of one sided stories.

As known, their accusations are not included of United Nation’s definition of the ‘Genocide’ .http://www.historyoftruth.com/declaration-made-by-american-academicians-may-19-1985).More details of the facts of the 1915 ‘s incidents and Armenian statements can be found in the following : http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/ It is precisely enough to ensure that Turks feel close to Argentineans which proves that given name to an important road to Argentina street’ in Turkiye (Turkey). http://www.google.com.tr/images?rlz=1T4ADBF_enUS285TR293&q=arjantin+caddesi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=AGUPTKWsJcWG4QaPv6yaDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CD0QsAQwBA

Kindly


Julia G. Arslan


TURKCESI:

Turkiye bircok yerde 'Arjantin' ismini tasiyan cadde, sokak, meydan, mekan ismi yok mu?

Bakiniz:
http://www.google.com.tr/images?rlz=1T4ADBF_enUS285TR293&q=arjantin+caddesi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=AGUPTKWsJcWG4QaPv6yaDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CD0QsAQwBA) .....

Pekiii Arjantin'in yaptigina sessiz mi kalacagiz? Turkler neye/nelere sessiz degil ki,bu olaya sesli cevap vermeli demeyecegim tabiki.

Hatirlatma yapmak gerekirse: "ATAYI ÝÇERDE HIRPALARSANIZ Ýnternet Haberde dün, Erdoðandan, Atatürk resti! baþlýklý haberi, haberdeki Erdoðanýn Arjantin programýna göre Buenos Aireste, Atatürk Anýtýnýn açýlýþýný yapacaktý. Ancak, Arjantindeki Ermeni lobisinin baskýsý nedeniyle Arjantin Hükümeti, Atatürk Anýtýnýn açýlýþýný programdan kaldýrdý. Baþbakan Erdoðan da bu davranýþa tepki göstererek Arjantin ziyaretini iptal etti tümceleri okuyunca, inanansým gelmedi. Aslýnda inanmayý çok isterdim!..
Siz içerde Atayý hýrpalarsanýz, dýþarýda elin oðlu çýkar böyle çirkinlikler yapar!.. http://www.internethaber.com/27-mayis,-abdnin-turk-ordusuna-tuzagidir-9975y.htm?interstitial=true )

Arjantin'deki olaylar için duygu ve düþüncelerinizi ifade etmek isterseniz, aþaðýdaki mektubu olduðu gibi yollayabilirsiniz:



To: mmacri@buenosaires.gov.ar, gcba@buenosaires.gov.ar

Sayýn Mauricio Macri and Marcos Pena,

Buenos Aires Belediyesi'nin mütena parklarýnda Atatürk'ün büstüne yer vermemesi nedeni ile hayal kýrýklýðýna uðradýk. Atatürk'ü öðrenmek için Ermeni kaynaklarýna ihtiyaç duyduðunuzu sanmýyoruz. Sadece son büyükelçi Blanco Villalta tarafýndan yazýlan ''Kemal Ataturk, Constructor de la Nueva Turquia", 1966, Editorial La Mandragora' kitabýnýn önsözü, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin kurucusunu takdir etmek için yeterlidir. Ermeni iddialarý çeliþkilerle doludur. Çok sayýda tarihçi, onlarýn tek yanlý hikayelerine katýlmamaktadýr.

http://www.historyoftruth.com/declaration-made-by-american-academicians-may-19-1985). 1915 olaylarý hakkýndaki gerçekler, yalan ve sahte Ermeni beyanatlarý, ayrýntýlarý ile http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/ web sitesinde yer almaktadýr.

Esasen, bu iddialar, Birleþmiþ Milletler 'soykýrým' tanýmýna uymamaktadýr. Þurasý kesindir ki, Türkler, Arjantililerle bir yakýnlýk hissetmektedirler. Yoksa neden Ankara'daki en mütena caddelerimizden birine 'Arjantin Caddesi' ismini verelim?

http://www.google.com.tr/images?rlz=1T4ADBF_enUS285TR293&q=arjantin+caddesi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=AGUPTKWsJcWG4QaPv6yaDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CD0QsAQwBA

Saygýlarýmla,

Ýmza....

ADDRESS BY
HER EXCELLENCY MS QUENTIN BRYCE AC
GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
ON THE OCCASION OF
ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATION ADDRESS
AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL, CANBERRA

25 APRIL 2009

My fellow Australians
We gather this morning, in quietness and community, to remember our dead. To mourn their passing.
To honour their deeds.
To breathe their spirit.

The thousands who perished at Gallipoli, many thousands more on the Western Front. The hundred
thousand whose names are kept in this shrine. The one and a half million who have served this nation.
We come to pay our respects and give our thanks.
To reflect deeply and fully on what their offering
means.
To make a place for them in our hearts.
We picture the stillness, the eerie silence of boats on the water, hovering in those tense hours before the
sun rose.
We can only imagine the force that drove them up the beach into assault and gunfire; the tenacity that
held them all that day and for eight long months, ceding nothing; giving everything.
We contemplate their courage: how it moved them to broach that dawn and face its
outpouring; steadfast, unflinching, brave.
We try to grasp their loss: what it meant to their mates and comrades; what it meant to those left at
home. Mothers and aunties; brothers, fathers, little ones. Grandchildren they would never meet. Lives
they would never get to build.
In place of these lives, there are quiet graves, and fields where poppies grow. From Hamel and Villers-
Bretonneux, to Valetta, Tobruk and Dar es Salaam, we find our countrymen at rest, reminding us how
far our nation's spirit has travelled, how much we have given.
On our own soil, each capital city and every country town has its memorial and its marker of that
loss. From this magnificent edifice, to regional war cemeteries, to the simplest plaque or park bench, our
landscape is inscribed with the story of our sacrifice.
It is indelibly recorded in our history and identity. We have a sacred trust to remain accountable to its
legacy.
Part of how we fulfill that is with our attention in moments like this one. In our regard for those who
march, and for those currently serving: peacekeepers, rebuilders, defenders and protectors in Iraq,
Afghanistan, East Timor, the Solomons, Egypt, the Sudan. In our esteem for a hero like Trooper Mark
Donaldson VC, our tribute to his supreme valour.
Yet we also keep faith with Anzac through the everyday.
In our own finding and testing of courage.
In our building of lives, homes and communities.
In our willingness to persevere through misfortune and adversity; to remain hopeful in the dry gullies.
In our capacity to reach out and deep when floodwaters rise and bushfires ravage.
In our remembrance of each other.
These too are thanks for what was laid down on our behalf.
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old." Yet in our growing we allow them to flourish.
In our days and years, their memory finds an ample place.
"At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them."

Bu ziyaret Turkiye devletine kufur edenlere ilgi arttigindan degildir tabiki!

"Avustralya Büyükelçisi Peter Doyle Diyarbakýr Büyükþehir Belediyesi Baþkaný Osman Baydemir'i ziyaret etti. . . .

Büyükelçi Doyle, "Umarým inceledikten sonra Avustralya'ya gelmeye karar verirsiniz. Biz de sizleri aðýrlamaktan zevk duyarýz" dedi. ilginize: http://www.silvanmucadele.com/news_detail.php?id=2602 http://www.yuksekovahaber.com/haber/buyukelciden-baydemire-ziyaret-30264.htm http://www.haberciniz.biz/haber/avusturya-buyukelcisinden-baydemire-ziyaret-diyarbakir--821791.html

A day for remembrance and perspective
MARTIN FLANAGAN April 18, 2009
NEXT weekend is the Anzac round, its highlight being Essendon and Collingwood at the 'G. Among his many ideas, this stands as one of Kevin Sheedy's most successful (and certainly better than telling the Tigers' faithful they had the team to win a premiership this year).
One of my brothers has a painting by Martin Tighe of two footballers, one Essendon, one Collingwood, battling it out on the MCG. The players in the painting don't look like modern footballers. They look like Essendon players of John Coleman and Dick Reynolds' time and Collingwood players of Lou Richards and Albert Collier's time, like eternal figures. Round the ground, where advertising banners customarily hang, are place names such as Gallipoli, Villers-Bretonneux and Kokoda, each written in a vivid, distinctive way as if to remind us each battle has a character entirely its own.
I get all that. In fact, if a visitor to Australia were to ask me for a Melbourne experience, one of those I'd nominate would be Anzac Day in the city. Arrive mid-morning when the march is on and the military bands are playing. Stand under the clocks at Flinders Street where American GIs met Aussie girls during World War II. Not that everyone was impressed by what they saw at the time, among them painter Albert Tucker. But Tucker had been working in a hospital at Heidelberg where solders with serious war injuries were kept.
I'd also go to Young & Jackson's and see Chloe, the naked nymph who came to Melbourne as a French painting for the Great Exhibition of 1880 and ended up in a pub. Lots of diggers had a drink with Chloe on their last leave before going overseas. Maybe, for some young men who didn't come back, it was the only naked woman they ever saw.

After the visitor to our city had a beer with Chloe, I'd tell them to make their way to the 'G, to take a leisurely stroll beside the river around which the city of Melbourne evolved from a settlement called Bearbrass, having previously been the place where the clans of what is now called Kulin nation gathered for ceremonies and games, including, in all likelihood, one in which a possum skin stuffed with charcoal was kicked in the air.

Then I'd tell the visitor about Collingwood and Essendon, one team from the city's 19th century slum, the other an outer suburban club with a Protestant flavour transformed by an Irish Catholic visionary called Kevin Sheedy. He invented the Anzac Day game, which seems to get bigger by the year.

But if the visitor to our country were an intelligent person with an independent perspective, I think they would ask me a question or two. They might, for example, ask me if this is an uncritical celebration of war? I would point out to them that the Anzacs fought the Turks and there is a Turkish presence in the Anzac Day commemoration. Some years ago, I attended a function put on by the president of the Turkish sub-branch of the RSL, Ramazan Altintas, at which the speaker was Bruce Ruxton, then the face of the Returned & Services League. Bruce, who offended most minorities at one time or another, spoke in his usual wayward and picturesque fashion, but the fact was he came in good spirit. And was received the same way.
I'd also point out to a visitor that Anzac Day speaks to me about being Australian in a way which has nothing to do with killing. I cherish the stories about Australian privates refusing to salute English officers because respect has to be earned. The Australian army, unlike the British, did not execute its own men in World War I. That, in my book, is something to be proud of. The English said the Australians lacked discipline but, if the general trend of reports is to be believed, the Australians proved themselves as fighters at Gallipoli. We were then, as a nation, just 14 years old — in our adolescence. Gallipoli became our bloody initiation rite.

But if we're going to promote war on the vast scale that is now implicit in the Anzac Day commemorations, we have to show some discrimination. Each Anzac Day on the evening news, we hear children repeating the statement that the Anzacs died defending our liberty. I would argue that is untrue. The Anzacs died invading a country (Turkey) with which we had no difference other than those determined by imperial alignments. If we want to talk about Australian soldiers dying to defend our freedom, talk about Kokoda.

We should never forget that Gallipoli was a military fiasco. The ineptitude of those in charge was as much responsible for the deaths of the thousands of young Australians as Turkish bullets. I would argue that the invasion of Iraq was a disaster on the scale of Gallipoli in terms of the lack of real knowledge about the task in hand that those ordering the invasion possessed when making their bold decisions.

I am not anti-American. I believe America saved us in World War II. One of the most moving stories to do with the bombing of Darwin in February 1942 concerns the 10 American Kittyhawk pilots who flew at the hundreds of Japanese war planes. Only one survived.
But those who argue for war in any country need to be endlessly questioned.

For example, what treatment do we expect Australian soldiers will receive if captured in a future Asian war with Guantanamo Bay as a precedent? I ask as the son of a serviceman who was fortunate to survive captivity and the experience of the Burma Railway during World War II.
Nor am I saying that football shouldn't pay its respects to what is now ritually referred to as the Anzac legend.

We all know that legends are stories created by the zoom lens of history, which amplifies certain facts at the expense of others. The Anzac legend is strong enough to let other truths about war in.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/a-day-for-remembrance-and-perspective-20091124-j326.html

One-sided thinking on Gallipoli an injustice
MARTIN FLANAGAN April 24, 2010
Comments 23
LEGENDS are like earthquakes. They happen. Afterwards, we try to understand the forces that created them. Anzac is an Australian legend that has a roughly analogous place to the Civil War in the American psyche. Both are stories of young nations encountering the horrors of modern warfare for the first time - that is, wars fought with repeating rifles and machineguns and appalling casualty rates. Both conflicts represent massive and unprecedented change.
As popular culture, however, what the Civil War has that Anzac doesn't is the view of both sides. In 1983, when his yacht, Australia 2, won the America's Cup, owner Alan Bond acknowledged that at one stage his crew had been losing but added "it was just like Gallipoli, and we won that one".
It would be interesting to know exactly how that comment was received in lounge rooms across Australia. Did it feel "right" to most who heard it? My guess is that it did.

Gallipoli was a military disaster. We should note that in justice to the young men who died there. Do we owe them less than we owe those who die in bushfires like Black Saturday? We should also note it in justice to future generations. The voices that urged Australia into the invasion of Iraq were of the same character as those that propelled Australia to Gallipoli in 1914. In the context of Anzac, we also need to note the extent of the debacle to appreciate the stature of the major Australian characters who emerged from it - like, for example, General Sir John Monash.
The planning at Gallipoli was a farce. Six weeks before the landing, by way of military intelligence, the British officer commanding the operation, General Sir Ian Hamilton, was equipped with two small guidebooks on Turkey and a text book on the Turkish army. Ellis Ashmead Bartlett, an English journalist covering the campaign who correctly foresaw from the outset that it was doomed, said intelligence would be acquired "at the point of a bayonet". And it was.

Monash was an engineer. Born in West Melbourne to Jewish German immigrants, Monash was of the century just beginning, a man who understood steel and concrete and modern automation. His battles were meticulously planned. The British prime minister Lloyd George described Monash "as the most resourceful general in the whole of the British Army". Monash is a giant figure in Australian history.

Propaganda was involved in shaping the popular view of Gallipoli from the start. Take the case of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, the man with the donkey. Within six weeks of his death, he had been conscripted into the propaganda war, a newspaper report describing him as ''a six-foot Australian'' with ''a woman's hands'' who said in a British-Australian accent, ''I'll take this fellow next.''

Simmo was a five-foot-eight Geordie with a stoker's hands who spoke in dialect and had fierce Labor politics. His first biographer, a fan of Churchill and acquaintance of Sir Robert Menzies, stripped him of his politics. There was no mention of boozing or fighting. The real Simmo was left in a grave at Gallipoli.

What the Australians won at Gallipoli was huge respect, including from their enemy. It really is time we started making clear to young Australians that the Anzacs didn't die protecting Australia from being invaded. Rather, we were invading a country on the other side of the world - to wit, Turkey - with whom we had no difference as a people outside the larger politics of the day.

Surely it is time we owed Turkey, and Turkish Australians, that respect. Look at the respect Turkey shows our dead.
I ask this question most seriously. Does any country in the world - other than Turkey - permit a people who tried to invade it to commemorate the fact of that attempted invasion on their shores each year? I know of not a single one. Imagine if the descendants of the Japanese pilots who bombed Darwin held an emotional service beneath the Japanese flag on the shores of Darwin Harbour each year.
My impression is that within Turkey the legend of Anzac got absorbed into the legend of Ataturk, the so-called father of modern Turkey, who, as a young man, championed the Turkish defence at Gallipoli.
It was Ataturk who declared to the mothers of Australia that their sons lay in friendly soil. A group of about 80 Turkish Australians march each year in Melbourne on Anzac Day. Anzac Day would not be the same without them.
Martin Flanagan is a senior writer.

Comments
23 comments
Yes, this most certainly needs to be pointed out as often as possible. It is no reflection on the courage and fighting qualities of ANZAC soldiers that Gallipoli was a poorly planned British 'adventure' of little military importance. What a waste of life for no apparent purpose. As someone who has visited Gallipoli, I can vouch for the reverence in which the Turkish people hold the site and the esteem they hold for Australians and New Zealanders.
dee-em Brookvale, Sydney - April 24, 2010, 12:08PM

I think you raise a valid point Martin, it is definately food for thought....
Lucy Grundy Melbourne - April 24, 2010, 12:35PM

At last an article that searches for the truth & not some rose coloured puff piece. As a child of a WW2 serviceman parent who didn't glorify war but knew & was part of horrorble events we were taught that jingoistic and distorted stories would be for the most part attempts to justify the bombast of the story telling glory seekers. Would Simpson Fitzpatrick welcome the attention of backslapping hail fellow well met Colonel Blimps, I think not. The first casualty of war is truth and a publishing industry intent on cashing in will continue to promote the myths as truth. Any life lost in any conflict is one too many. We should treasure their memory for their sacrifice to the folly of their 'betters' .

JohnS Ryde - April 24, 2010, 12:33PM
There is not one thing that is glorious about war and why we commemorate this crap while we have again invaded two nations who have done us no harm and helped to slaughter a couple of million people is beyond me.
We whine each year "lest we forget" and then wonder who we can bomb next.
And Gallipoli was a total disaster, our soldiers invaded, murdered and slunk out like the cowards they were.
Now we hide in old Taliban forts in Oruzgan and pretend we are helping Afghans while locking up Afghan refugees.
Marilyn - April 24, 2010, 12:57PM

You make a great point about Turkish hospitality Martin, a point we should reflect upon every April 25th.
There are a few points worth considering whenever this type of discussion arises, which is every year.
Gallipoli wasn't a waste of time, poorly executed, you bet but the idea had strategic merit.
If it had been successful, Turkey may have fallen by the end of 1915 early '16 opening up access to Russia and a proper second front (the ANZAC's would probably then have fought along side the Russian's on that Eastern front) WWI may then have ended some time late in 1916, early '17. No Communist Revolution, no cold war and maybe no WWII, Happy Days!
WWI was a global conflict between two superpowers, one of which our federated states had only 14 years earlier been crown colonies of, with that in mind it's easier to see why we became involved. Does anyone seriously think that we would not have?
Lastly as time goes on we seem to less and less remember that their is an NZ in ANZAC. Particularly and in relation to the commentary about Gallipoli.
Homer J South Yarra - April 24, 2010, 1:02PM

Hi Marilyn still the anti-australian australian I see.
When attempting to view events in history many of the people of today fall into the trap of "Historical fallacy" where the people of the past are judged by today's moral standards, which taken to the extreme leads anyone to decide that anyone mentioned in history is immoral and fails to take into account different social structures, technologies, beliefs, political systems and cultural influences etc of the time. In ignoring history's lessons and denying the limitations of past people we devalue their gains and are doomed to repeat their mistakes. I view it as cultural elitism over the dead through ignorance. Where as those relying on verbal history don't suffer in this way from codification rather they suffer from "cognitive bias" and can tailor the history to match whatever agenda is needed. Of course those social scientists at uni who like to dabble in social engineering wouldn't mention it to the politicians since the regard it as a kind of ethical bracket creep, which is why we will never have aboriginal reconciliation since once it nears it is pushed away again for the political agenda. Thank you Paul Keating for promoting historical fallacy and believing in the idiocy of race memory and so forever denying us reconciliation.
bill sydney - April 24, 2010, 1:12PM

I respect the decency and respect the Turks pay to their former enemies.
We Australians should overcome our blinkered thinking. We think that our enemies were/are always evil bastards and that we are always right. We think that we are great when we "win" (say "against" Japan) and great when we "lose" (say "against Turkey). Gee ... we are heroes whatever happens. Heads we win. Tails you lose!
Both Sides - April 24, 2010, 1:09PM

A big thankyou is due to Martin Flanagan. I have lived a large part of my life in a non-English speaking country and it is extraordinary how the Anglo Saxons still persist with a goodies and baddies version of historical events. Flanagan is absolutely correct in asking what Australians would think if the Japanese wanted to honour their dead in Darwin. The Anzacs participated in an invasion force that snuck up on the Turks in the middle of the night, invaded their country and tried to kill as many Turkish soldiers as possible. Last year I attended an Anzac Day service at which the enemy at Gallipoli was labelled as "evil." Australia needs to grow up. It does the fallen soldiers on both sides no disrespect to tell the truth. It is really becoming distasteful to observe the indoctrination of the young and how Anzac Day has become a day of uncommonly large profit for television stations and other spruikers of nationalistic propaganda. I recently received a brochure on Anzac Day from a would be politician at the next election. There was not a word about the futility and the tragedy of war. It dealt exclusively with how magnificent the Australian soldiers were - nothing else. It is noble to remember the soldiers who died. But it is just as important to remind ourselves that it is our responsibility to ensure that it never happens again.
Vero Blue Mountains - April 24, 2010, 1:16PM

Martin- you paint Turkey in a favourable light ( "Surely it is time we owed Turkey, and Turkish Australians, that respect")You have omitted that in the same year of the Gallipoli landing in 1915, Turkey perpetrated the mass genocide of around 1million Armenians. Atatuerk himself who at the very least particpated if not spearheaded the campaign to eradicate the Armenians.
To this day Turkey refuse to acknowledge their involvement and cut off political and economic ties with other states brave enough to brand them perpetrators in a Genocide.
Perhaps we will show Turkey the respect they deserve when they admit to the atrocities that the world has forgotten.
Amc East Brighton - April 24, 2010, 1:27PM

Bill in Sydney
Would you like to address the article, or do you prefer to write a generalised sub-standard university thesis about ... what exactly?
Would you like to argue that we weren't an invading force on foreign land? Would you like to argue, ala Bondy, that we won? Would you like to explain the behaviour of some modern Australians who travel to Turkey without a single clue as to what actually happened, and without the slightest sign of respect for the incredible hospitality of the Turks?
Or not.
Bill Melbourne - April 24, 2010, 1:33PM

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/onesided-thinking-on-gallipoli-an-injustice-20100423-tj50.html

San Antonio Express January 22, 1923
ARMENIANS, NOT TURKS SET SMYRNA ABLAZE RELIEF WORKER DECLARES

American Who Reached City Before Occupation Says Victors Not Responsible for Destruction
Photo caption:
Mark O. Prestiss
The hit her to untold story of the Smyrna fire told by Mark O. Prentiss,
American representative of the Near East Relief.

Nearly everybody in America, it appears, is convinced that the Turkswere responsible for the fire which added the final touches of tragedyto the Smyrna horror. The unanimity and firmness of this convictionsurprised me, at first, as I believe it would have surprised anybodyelse, of whatever nationality or political allegiance, who hadrecently come from the scene of the disaster. The motive, usuallyconsidered of supreme importance in crimes of this sort, does notclearly point toward the Turks. They had captured Smyrna. The city, asit stood, was one of the greatest prizes ever taken in Orientalwarfare. The Turks had unquestioned title to its foods, itscommodities of all sorts, its houses. It was a store house of suppliesmost urgently needed for their peoples and armies. Why destroy it?

It was a matter of common knowledge, on the other hand, that theArmenians and Greeks were determined not to let this booty fall intothe hands of their hated enemies. There was a generally acceptedreport in Smyrna, several days before the fire, that an organizedgroup of Armenian young men had sworn to burn the city if it fell tothe Turks. They certainly had motive enough, and if this was theirplan, ruthlessly carried out, they paid a terrible price. No Armenianman, woman or child who was in the Armenian quarter after the firestarted escaped alive. They were either burned or shot down by Turkishsoldiers. The Turks committed atrocities enough without crediting themwith others, to which they haven't a clear title.

Evidence gathered by Paul Groenovish, chief of the Smyrna firedepartment, and carefully checked by myself, together with informationwhich came to me from other sources, points to the Armenians as theauthors of the fire. The series of events which led up to the finalterror on the Smyrna waterfront as I was enabled to follow them, beganin the first days of September, when Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol,United States High Commissioner at Constantinople, organized theSmyrna Emergency Relief Committee in anticipation of what might happenin the city if it fell, as then seemed inevitable, to the Turks.

An American Relief Unit in Smyrna.

The U.S.S. Destroyer Lawrence, under command of Capt. Wollesoeproceeded to Smyrna, carrying this committee, of which I was a member.We arrived in the evening of Friday, the 8th of September, in time tosee the last of the Greek army leaving the city. Early in the morningof the 9th we went ashore, and immediately organized a reliefcommittee, which consisted of practically all of the Armenianresidents there, together with representatives of the Near East Reliefand the American Red Cross from Constantinople. Admiral Bristol hadsent his chief of staff, Capt. Hepburn, as his personal representativeto serve as chairman of this committee.
One of the most serious situations that confronted the committee wasthe possibility of fire. This situation developed into one of extremeanxiety when we learned that the entire city police department,together with nearly all of the Greeks who were members of the firedepartment had deserted their posts and fled the city in fear of theapproaching Turkish army.
I made it my business to make a general survey of the situation, and Ifound that the fire fighting forces consisted of approximately 60 menwith two small station houses. I found two reasonably good fireengines and about half a dozen hand machines that were used along withthe waterfront by dropping in in-take hose over the sea-wall into thewater. There were only a few buildings in the city over three storieshigh, the great majority being two. The water pressure was strongenough to force a stream of water over almost any building in the cityand there appeared to be plenty of hydrants.

The following Tuesday morning, Mr. Jaquith of the Near East Relief,Maj. David of the Red Cross, and I took a trip by automobile in theoutskirts of the city. The Turks, by this time, were in fulloccupation. We saw three widely separated fires totally consumeisolated buildings. One of these was a small shop, and in the burningdoorway were the bodies of two women. Obviously, looting, murder andarson had been committed here by Turkish soldiers.
Hospital Not Burned by the Turks

A report has been widely circulated in this country to the effect thatthe Armenian Hospital, where some 1,500 refugees had gathered, wasburned by Turkish soldiers who slaughtered many of the helplessoccupants. The truth of the matter is that on Tuesday, early in theafternoon, in response to an emergency appeal, I had gone to thehospital, accompanied by Dr. Post and two nurses, all of us members ofthe Near East Relief staff.

While I was there a squad of from 15 to 20 Turkish soldiers, undercommand of a captain came to take over the hospital for Turkishmilitary purposes. The refugees were searched as they came from thegrounds, and arms of various sorts sufficient to fill a truck weretaken from them. All of them, men, women and children, who had takenrefuge both in the hospital building and in the adjoining grounds,were dispersed by 6 o'clock that afternoon.

The captain in command of the squad had written instructions from theTurkish military commander to take possession of the hospital andprepare for immediate occupancy. He told us that they would beginmoving Turkish patients to the hospital that night. He also mentionedthat he had orders to shoot the refugees, without mercy, if theyrefused to disarm, and that he certainly would have done so but fortheir unexpected docility in giving up their weapons. He creditedtheir willingness to disarm to the presence of the Americans. Dr.Post, the two nurses and myself. I had previously gone among them andexplained with the aid of an interpreter, that they would be shot ifthey persisted in holding on to the bombs, knives and revolvers theyhad concealed about them. The first command of the Turkish captainthat they surrender their arms had not produced results, for they werecrazy with fear, and it was some time before I could persuade them totrust their conquerors.

Signs of Incendarism.
On the following morning, Wednesday, the thirteenth of September, thesituation was critical in the extreme. Paul Grescovish, Chief of theSmyrna Fire Department, told me that he had discovered bundles ofdiscarded clothing, rags and bedding, covered with petroleum, inseveral of the institution recently deserted by Armenian refugees.

Grescovish impressed me as a thoroughly reliable witness. I had metand had a long talk with him three days previously, on Sunday morning.Fortunately, I needed no interpreter, as he speaks English fluently.He is an engineer, born and educated in Austria, and has beenidentified with several enterprises in Turkey. Twelve years ago hebecame chief of the Smyrna fire department, which he continued toconduct in a very efficient manner, for that part of the world, duringthe Greek occupancy. He told me that during the first week ofSeptember there had been an average of five fires per day with whichhis crippled department had to cope. In his opinion most of thesefires were caused by carelessness, but some undoubtedly were ofincendiary origin. The average number of fires in a normal year, hesaid, would be about one in ten days, and the increase to five a dayseemed significant.

As soon as the Turkish military authorities assumed control,Grescovish had applied for additional men and fire fighting equipment.Instead of helping him, the Turkish military governor, learned thatthere was still twelve Greeks in the fire department, ordered theirimmediate arrest, which left the department with only thirty-sevenmen. Sunday night, Monday and Monday night and Tuesday, so many fireswere reported at such widely points, that the fire department wasabsolutely unable to deal with them. They were extinguished by Turkishsoldiers.

I discussed with Grescovish the danger of fire at the plant of theStandard Oil Company. Although these tanks were located at least acouple of miles from the city, it was obvious that fire and explosionsthere would do terrific damage, and in spite of the depleted personnelof the department and the isolation of the plant which was beyondmunicipal jurisdiction, he set and maintained two men to act as guardsthere.
During Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the Turkish soldiers shotdown many Armenians who they claimed were caught throwing petroleumand starting fires in the Armenian quarters and also around thewarehouses and stations of the Cassabe Railroad. It was on Wednesdaymorning that Grescovish himself found evidence of inciendarism. Hetold me that early that morning he had seen two Armenian priestsescorting several thousand men, women and children from the Armenianschools and Dominican Churches where they had taken refuge down to thequays. When he presently went in to these institutions he foundpetroleum-soaked refuse ready for the torch.

The chief told me, and there is no doubt that he was sure of it, thathis own fireman, as well as Turkish guards, had shot down manyArmenian young men disguised either as women or as Turkish irregularsoldiers, who were caught setting fires during Tuesday night andWednesday morning. Turkish soldiers, armed with rifles and machineguns, were guarding every street in the Armenian quarter, and everyman, woman and child who was in this section of the city as late asmid-afternoon on Wednesday, was either burned alive or shot down whileattempting to escape.

At 11:20 Wednesday morning, at least half a dozen fires were reportedalmost simultaneously around the freight terminal ware houses and thepassenger station of the Aldine Railroad.
It is noteworthy that these fires broke out in buildings which weregreatly to the advantage of the Turks to preserve and equally to theadvantage of the enemies to destroy.

At 12:00 o'clock five fires were reported around the Armenianhospital, then occupied by the Turks. At about the same time, twofires were reported at the Armenian club, and a few minutes laterseveral fires started simultaneously around the Cassabe Railroad.
Shortly after noon Grescovish, convinced that the city was doomed,again went to the military authorities to ask for help and again itwas not forthcoming. It was not until six o'clock in the evening thathe was given a company of 100 soldiers to serve under his directionand it was eight o'clock at night before the soldiers begandestruction of buildings by bombs, in order to check the spread of thefire.

A Southeast Café Fans the Flames.
Early in the afternoon, I was at the headquarter of Kaizim Pasha,Turkish Military Governor of the district, and from his window I couldsee smoke from several fires in various parts of the city. I calledhis attention to this, but he assured me they were of no consequence.He said he had been worried about the possibility of conflagration,and that his soldiers had received instruction to prevent it. When Ileft him I made an appointment to return at five o'clock thatafternoon but the fire had spread so rapidly, the people had beendriven from their homes down to the quay in such numbers and the panicwas so great, that I found it impossible to reach his headquarters tokeep the appointment.

During the afternoon the wind began to rise and blow from thesouthwest, which I was told was most unusual at that season of theyear, and by night a perfect gale was blowing. People who lived inSmyrna many years all told me they had never known a wind of suchviolence, during the summer months. Dense smoke and sparks blownacross the decks of the U.S. Destroyer Litchfield, which aftermid-night was anchored 760 yards off shore.

It was not until three days later that I saw Grescovish again. He toldme he had had no sleep for five days and nights and he looked thepart. Not only was he physically exhausted, but his emotions had beenso wrought upon by the sights he had seen, that he begged to beexcused from talking over details. Realizing, however, that this wasthe time to get the truth, I pressed him for information, and he wentover in chronological order the history of the fire. On that, and onseveral succeeding days, we explored the greater part of the burnedarea of the city, and I made notes of the most of the most importantthings he told me. Later when Lloyd's men came to ascertain the extentof the damage, he refused to make any statement at all.

During several weeks after the fire I had an opportunity to talk withmany Turkish commanders, and they were all of the mind in levelingeither bitter or philosophical accusations at their enemies fordestroying the city. They were contemptuous of the suggestion, made ina few quarters, that they had any responsibility for the burning.

"Why should we burn the city?" they would ask. "Smyrna, with all itswealth and treasure, was ours. The fleeing Greek army had abandonedhuge quantities of military stores and food supplies that weredesperately needed by our armies and civilians. These have beendestroyed, together with the ware houses and stations where many ofthe fires broke out. Besides, the fleeing Greeks and Armenians, manyof them wealthy as you know, had abandoned everything in their homesand their stores. We were in absolute and undisputed possession. Doyou think we are such fools as to have destroyed everything?"

My attention has been called to many statements published broadcast inthis country to the fact that Turks were seen pouring petroleum aroundthe American Consulate. I was in the vicinity of the Consulate most ofthe time and I saw no petroleum.

It is a fact worthy of the attention of the honest historian that veryfew people in Smyrna at the time of the fire, or during the succeedingweeks believed that the Turks were responsible for it. That the Turks were grossly and criminally negligent in the matter of ordinary precautions against an outbreak of fire, we all realized, and that they were tragically inefficient in fighting the fire was obvious to us all,
but I have been unable to find evidence that either Turkishs oldiers or Turkish civilians deliberately fired the city or wishedfor its destruction. The evidence all points in another direction.

http://armenians-1915.blogspot.com/2008/07/2543-armenians-not-turks-set-smyrna.html