The problem is - and I have toured the peninsular 4 times and attended 3 annual commemorations there - is that many Australians (and to a lesser extent, Kiwis) are unaware that tens of thousands of comrades from the rest of the Empire and France died during the same landings just down the road from
Ari Burnu and up the road at
Suvla Bay, 4 months later. It has been a nationalist narrative to portray this disaster as a purely Australian event. But how many of your are aware of the epic naval battle only 2 months earlier that resulted in the landings? Oh, and for those who attend the Lone Pine Memorial, recall that it is a Commonwealth and Ireland memorial, and not just Australian (that led to some issues a couple of years ago when non-Australians were denied access...).
On the more recent matter about the alleged vandalism of the memorial panels around the peninsular, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture have confirmed that they are being refurbished, but in typical Turkish fashion, didn't let anyone know. Immune to the
PR gene, they are...