Hundreds Gather At Turkey’s Gallipoli To Honour Fallen ANZAC Soldiers

On Tuesday, hundreds of people gathered near the former World War I battlefields on Turkey's Gallipoli Peninsula to honor soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who died in a failed campaign 108 years ago.

The ceremony began at dawn with an Aboriginal didgeridoo performance and the singing of hymns and solemn songs.

The annual event marks the first landings of troops from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, known as Anzacs, at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915.

The campaign was part of a failed British-led operation to take the Ottoman Empire out of the war, with over 44,000 Allied soldiers and 86,000 Ottoman soldiers dying during the eight-month campaign.

At the event, around 1,700 people, including dignitaries and others who made the annual pilgrimage, held a minute of silence to remember the fallen soldiers.

The service included wreath-laying ceremonies and the singing of the Turkish, Australian, and New Zealand national anthems.

Gallipoli has become a place of pilgrimage for many Australians and New Zealanders who sleep on the beaches until the start of the dawn service.

The battle has helped forge Australia and New Zealand's national identities as well as a friendship with Turkey.