GANAKKALE: Turkey on Wednesday marked 100 years since the start of the Gallipoli Campaign by the Allies in World War I, an event seen now as a glorious victory by Ottoman forces and a crucial moment in the creation of the modern Turkish state.

On March 18, 1915, joint British-French naval forces sought to force their way through the Dardanelles Straits separating Europe from Asia in a bid to take Istanbul, then known as Constantinople.

However the attack was repelled by fierce Ottoman resistance, forcing the Allies to stage a land campaign in April that the Ottoman forces would also defeat in a months-long battle.

Although the Ottoman Empire, allied with Berlin, was on the losing side in World War I and subsequently collapsed, the Gallipoli Campaign is regarded in Turkey as a heroic victory.

“100 years ago, history changed,” the Hurriyet daily said in its headline.

Addressing a ceremony marking the 100 years at the town of Canakkale on the Dardanelles Straits, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the battle as a unifying moment in the history of Turkey.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play