Respect to Mehmetçik Monument

The Respect to Mehmetçik Memorial  is a monument in the Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey. Mehmetçik is a common name given to soldiers in a war.

 

Geography
The monument is in Eceabat district of Çanakkale Province at about 40°12′N 26°17′E. It is situated in the southern end of Albayrak heights in the Gallipoli Historical National Park which is facing the Anzac Cove.

History
The monument has been created by the Turkish sculptor Tankut Öktem (1941–2007) in 1997

The theme
The monument is a sculpture of a Turkish soldier carrying an Australian officer. The sculpture is based on an event in the Dardanelles Campaign of the World War 1 in which a Turkish soldier, after raising a white flag, carried a wounded Australian officer to Australian lines and returned to his lines before resuming the clash. There is also an inscription of a statement made by Lord Richard Casey then a lieutenant and the staff captain with the 3rd Brigade in the Australian army, during a visit to Turkey about his respect to Turkish army.