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West, Brad & Ayhan Aktar: How a more divided Turkey could change the way we think about Gallipoli

Brad West & Ayhan Aktar

How a more divided Turkey could change the way we think about Gallipoli‘, The Conversation, 21 April 2017

Discusses how the classical Turkish (essentially Kemalist) narrative of Gallipoli is being replaced under Erdogan by a more Islamist take. This is likely to influence Australian attitudes toward Gallipoli in conjunction with reduced Australian pilgrim numbers due to terrorism alarms.

For an earlier analysis of the Islamist tendency regarding Gallipoli, see Ruth Pollard’s 2013 article. For a 2018 update, West and Aktar again:

Whether Australians and New Zealanders will return to Gallipoli en masse for future Anzac Days, and how they will be received if they do, is uncertain. But ritual performances on the battlefields on April 25 are almost certain to remain politically significant in Turkey.