'Muslims Only' - Names of Non-Muslim soldiers killed in Gallipoli campaign were removed from the list of martyrs. (AM).
Centenary observations of the Gallipoli campaign that ended with the Ottoman Empire's victory against the Allies sadly became another occasion to expose how the non-Muslim minorities in Turkey are snubbed. Non-Muslim soldiers who lost their lives were not saluted and their names were removed from the list of martyrs issued by the Defense Ministry.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, when he was the foreign minister in 2011, said: “We will inform the whole world about 2015. Contrary to what some claim and disparage, we will tell the world that this will not be the anniversary of a genocide but of honorable resistance of a nation at Gallipoli.”
Because of such partisan utterances, Gallipoli observances turned into ceremonies where nationalist sentiments peaked and non-Muslim minorities were utterly disregarded.
For example, the List of Martyrs issued by the Ministry of National Defense omitted the names of non-Muslim martyrs although it had listed them in an earlier publication. Today if you search for a non-Muslim soldier on the ministry's official website, you will get the message, “No record could be found.”
In the Canakkale Martyrs Cemetery, where Muslims and non-Muslims are buried together, a memorial ceremony attended by Davutoglu was held March 18. Only the Quran was recited — and there was no mention of non-Muslim martyrs.
The Jewish community held a separate memorial service for those who died at Gallipoli in Istanbul’s cemetery for Jewish officers killed while serving the Ottoman army. Addressing the gathering, Harin Niyego said Jews had contributed significantly to the army in various fronts of World War I and the War of Independence. "Many of our co-religionists lost their lives while doing their national duty on various fronts of the Ottomans," he added. There was no official representation at the Jewish community’s observance.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the April 25 observances will be held instead on April 24, the date of the Armenian genocide. It's not hard to guess that the land war commemoration will also be ignoring the non-Muslim martyrs. Read the full story here.
Erdoğan: "Some still don't understand Gallipoli. It was the continuation of the struggle of Saladin and Mehmet the Conqueror." #HolyWar
— Ankaralı Jan (@06JAnk) March 29, 2015
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