When we talk about the Gallipoli War, we often narrow the issue. It is as if only a capital city was defended. However, the struggle at Gallipoli is more than just extending the life of a state, it is a direct intervention in the course of history. If that strait had been crossed, the world we know today would not be the same world.
The British target was not only Istanbul. It was about keeping Tsarist Russia, which was on the verge of collapse, alive and suppressing a rising revolution before it was born. The Straits would be opened, Russia would breathe, and the Bolshevik Revolution would either never happen or take a completely different course. This was not just a military move; it was an attempt to permanently establish the global balance of power.
Gallipoli was not passed. And this “not crossed” changed the course of history. Russia did not receive the support it expected, the collapse accelerated and Tsarism disappeared. New political structures with defined borders emerged in the Caucasus and Central Asia. The foundations of the Turkish Republics, which we know today as independent, were laid not only in 1991, but also in the process of this rupture. In this respect, Çanakkale affected the fate of not only Anatolia but also the Turkic world.
The birthplace of a leader
If Çanakkale had been overcome, Istanbul would have fallen and Anatolia would have been occupied much earlier. The line stretching from Kars to Ardahan, from Artvin to Oltu would have been permanently lost. This would not have been an occupation, but the liquidation of a geography.
And perhaps the most critical point: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk did not only stand out as a frontline commander at Gallipoli; he emerged on the stage of history as the leader who would shape the destiny of a nation. The success at Anafartalar made him the hope of Anatolia. Without Çanakkale, this leadership would not have been born. Without this leadership, the Turkish War of Independence would either not have started or would not have succeeded.
The Bolshevik support for Anatolia is also part of this picture. Because they knew that if Gallipoli had been defeated, their history would not have been written in the same way. Therefore, the relationship established was not a simple alliance, but the result of a common destiny.
Today, when we look back, we can clearly say the following: Çanakkale was not a line of defense, but a declaration of will that changed the course of history. If that strait had been crossed that day, an empire would have collapsed earlier, a revolution would never have been born, a nation would have been erased from the stage of history and the world we know today would have been the product of a different order.
But it did not pass.
That is why the victory at Gallipoli is not a memory of the past; it is the name of making today and tomorrow possible.
Because if Çanakkale had been passed, today's world would not have been built.
And today
On the anniversary of March 18th,
The unsung heroes of the Gallipoli War,
the Mehmet soldier who writes epics at the front,
and all commanders, especially Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who shaped the destiny of this nation.
with respect, gratitude and mercy.
We have not forgotten and will not forget those who made Çanakkale impassable.