The 57th Infantry Regiment Memorial is one of the most important Turkish sites on the peninsula, and visiting it brings balance to a battlefield tour that might otherwise focus only on the Allied story.
The memorial honours the Ottoman 57th Regiment, which, according to tradition, was ordered by Mustafa Kemal not to attack but to die, buying the time that decided the first day of the campaign.
Mustafa Kemal and the 57th
On 25 April 1915, as the ANZACs pushed inland, Mustafa Kemal committed the 57th Regiment to hold the heights. His famous order, that he was not ordering them to attack but to die, and that other troops could take their place in the time it took them to fall, has become legendary in Turkey.
The regiment was effectively destroyed, but it held the line long enough to stop the Allied advance, and no unit numbered 57 has been raised in the Turkish army since, out of respect.
The memorial today
The site includes a cemetery, a statue and a quiet prayer area, and it is often busy with Turkish visitors paying their respects. For international travellers it is an essential counterpoint, showing that Gallipoli is a place of remembrance for the Ottoman defenders as much as for the ANZACs.
Good guides spend real time here, because understanding both sides is what makes a Gallipoli visit complete.
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