Memed (Stranger 25/100)

First of all, I should express my concerns and possible apologies, as I am not sure whether this would be considered as a stranger portrait. Well… he is definitely a stranger and a well-known figure for me. I don’t know the guy personally but I have quite a knowledge and understanding how he can be, what he likes or doesn’t and probably how he would behave under certain circumstances.

 

Meet Memed. His name is not actually Memed and I have not talked a single word with him. He wouldn’t reply, had I tried. Actually “his name” should be written as Mehmet and he represents the Turkish soldier during the Turkish Independence War and all of the soldiers on the battlefield are called with that name: Memed.

 

18th of March was the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign. As you might have realized, Turkey is mentioned a lot with a certain word, genocide, lately. And as a result of these claims, our super-smart government had decided to “celebrate” the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign on the 25th of April instead of the usual date, the 18th of March. They thought, if they organize the celebrations on this new date and invite several high state officials, the Armenian genocide claims would be kept in the background. I am not going to drift into the “exciting” world of politics as I just want to tell you a little about Memed and the celebrations held in Ankara, at Anitkabir.

 

Some of the things I heard over the years about Gallipoli might as well be urban legends but these battles at Canakkale was pretty interesting. The Turkish nation sees these battles as a turning point and after Gallipoli, the rise of our great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had begun.

 

Several nations were involved in World War I. Australia, New Zealand, India, United Kingdom and France on one side and Turkey, Germany, Austria-Hungary on the other. The Allies made landings on the peninsula and there were very harsh battles both on land and at sea. It was said that people fought during the day, collected the dead from no man’s land at night, and while doing that, they exchanged some necessities such as cigarettes and tea… Today the peninsula is a national park and it is said that the ground is full of graveless corpses. In total, around 115,000 people lost their lives in a very short period of time. March 18th, 1915 was a very important day and a significant victory for Ottomans, as the Allies launched a naval attack and lost 4 battleships.

 

In 1934, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk wrote the famous words that reached out to the mothers of his former enemies.

 

“Those heroes that shed their blood

And lost their lives.

You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.

Therefore, rest in peace.

There is no difference between the Johnnies

And the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side

Here in this country of ours,

You, the mothers,

Who sent their sons from far away countries

Wipe away your tears,

Your sons are now lying in our bosom

And are in peace

After having lost their lives on this land they have

Become our sons as well”.

 

To cut the long story short, there were some commemorative ceremonies at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and I decided to pay a visit. Normally, the visiting hours are limited and it is not possible to visit at night. But for this occasion it was decided that Anitkabir will be open to visit all through the night. It was said that the honor guards would be wearing the uniforms of 1915 and there 1915 lanterns would be flown at midnight (well, excuse my poor language skills as I couldn’t come up with a better wording for this. Just think these lanterns as mini balloons which carry a small candle and fly with the hot air provided by the candle). And finally, it was said that the Turkish Red Cross will be serving wheat soup and dry bread at 04:00 hours (that was the typical food served during Gallipoli). In short, this might be a one in a life time experience and I shouldn’t have missed that.

 

When I reached Anitkabir, I learned most of the balloons were launched quite a while ago and it was a disappointment for me. But there were some left and being at Anitkabir at night and watching these balloons rise to the sky was quite an emotional experience.

 

There were a lot of people and the traffic was discouraging. A lot of people were coming even though it was 01:00 AM. After shooting some long exposure images, we decided to visit the tomb. A flood of people were inside and everyone was paying their respect to the greatest leader this nation has seen for the last several centuries.

 

Right in front of the tomb, there were two honor guards waiting. Memed was one of them. He wasn’t even blinking or moving an inch. With this special uniform, he is the symbol of all Turkish people who fought and died bravely at Gallipoli and at the Independence War. There were people hugging him, several were taking snapshots, some girls were kissing him on the cheek etc… He was just standing still with this expression on his face. If you have a closer look, you can see the sunburn in his face and the mark of the strap of his regular helmet, carved on his face while he stands still at daytime watches. The background text is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's addressing to the Turkish youth.

 

I can keep on writing but I think I’ve already managed to make you get the idea. Please accept my sincere apologies, if you do not think this image belongs to 100 Strangers Project.

If you would like to learn more about:

 

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk click here

Gallipoli Campaign click here

Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign click here

Anitkabir click here

Ataturk's address to Turkish youth click here

 

This picture is #25 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

Done