Gallipoli takes centre stage in Turkey’s battlefield tourism plans

  Bill Sellars

The troops are gathering, set to hit the beaches of Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula at dawn on April 25.

However, this is not 1915, or the beginning of the assault on one of the Ottoman Empire’s last footholds in Europe, in what for the Allies was the ultimately disastrous Gallipoli Campaign of World War I. 

Instead, it is a return to the historic battlefields of 110 years ago. Thousands of overseas visitors are expected to gather in the pre-dawn light close to the beach where the first Allied troops landed to commemorate the fallen of more than two dozen nations that served in the year-long series of battles that ended in victory for Turkey.

In 1915, the peninsula and the waters around it were the scene of bloody land and sea battles between the Ottoman Empire and forces led by the British and French seeking to push their way through the Dardanelles to Istanbul and knock Turkey – an ally of Germany – out of the war. 

Cemeteries and memorials to the more than 100,000 men who fell in fighting dot the peninsula. Around 50,000 foreigners – the majority Australians and New Zealanders – and more than two million Turks visit the battlefields annually, and numbers are forecast to swell with this year’s anniversary. 

While not challenging the numbers of 2015, when 20,000 overseas pilgrims came just for the commemorative ceremonies for the centenary of the Allied invasion on April 25, tourism professional Funda Tezel believes this year will be the best in a decade in terms of visitors. 

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From the collection of Serpil and Bill Sellars

“People are travelling again after the pandemic and this is a big anniversary, so it will be the best year since 2015”, said Tezel, the operations manager for Crowded House Tours, the leading tour company on the peninsula. 

While battlefield tourism is a relatively modest contributor to the national economy compared with the broader Turkish tourism market, which attracted more than 40 million overseas visitors last year, it is one that generates solid and increasing revenue for the tour companies, hotels and restaurants in the Çanakkale region, also home to another famous scene of battle – Troy. 

The segment has not only grown over the years, it has also changed, according to Bülent Korkmaz, an independent guide who has led visitors over the battlefields for more than 25 years.

“There are many more foreigners coming here now and while 25 years ago almost all were Australians and New Zealanders, now it is more like 75 percent,” he said. “There are far more people from Asia coming, especially from India, as well as Canadians and Europeans.”

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One reason for this increased awareness is media, says Korkmaz, both television and film – Australian director Peter Weir’s movie Gallipoli is often mentioned by visitors – but also the internet, with more information easily accessible online.

“People everywhere knew about Troy, now they have heard about Gallipoli too,” he said. 

For British author and historian Peter Hart, who brings groups to the peninsula twice a year, walking the battlefields builds a new layer of knowledge that cannot be gained through books. 

“To understand problems and advantages bestowed by the rough terrain, to experience the sort of scrub and vegetation, to actually see the lines of sight – all are crucial to understanding the fighting at Gallipoli,” Hart told AGBI. “It all brings you far closer to understanding the events of 110 years ago.”

The campaign has a unique attraction for visitors as it offers a near-intact battlefield environment, in a compact area, surrounded by stunningly beautiful scenery.

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“No other battlefield offers this combination, which means that we have found we get a lot of repeat visitors who have fallen in love with the place and desire to explore every nook and cranny,” said Hart.

It is not just visitors from the UK and the Antipodes who are coming in increasing numbers. There has been a sharp rise in battlefield tourists from France – which, along with its colonies including Algeria and Senegal, had 80,000 men serve on the peninsula – as well as from India and Pakistan, once British colonies but now sending visitors exploring their own military heritage from the campaign. 

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There has also been an influx of Canadian visitors after the unveiling in 2022 of a new memorial to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, which served in the latter part of the campaign. The caribou statue, the focal point of the memorial, is one of six erected to commemorate the regiment’s service in WW1, the other five being in France and Belgium. 

Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula is not the only former field of conflict that is attracting increasing ranks of visitors keen on past battles. Growing numbers of tours are being scheduled to sites worldwide and the rise of battlefield tourism is what Peter Hart calls a “global phenomenon”. 

“Military history may be a niche market, but its adherents are flocking to the battlefields of the Western Front, the Normandy coast D-Day landing sites and the battle sites of the American Civil War – to name just a few,” he said.

That niche is getting bigger, said Crowded House’s Tezel, as people from other countries whose men and women served at Gallipoli become interested in their history.

“Even 110 years on, interest in the campaign is growing,” she said. “We have more people visiting, from even more nations. 

“I believe Gallipoli will never die.”