good talk

From Bergama I went up the coast a bit to Canakkale from where one can tour the Gallipoli Battlefield and go see the ruins of Troy. I toured Gallipoli the first time that I was in Turkey. The Gallipoli Campaign by the English, French, and Anzacs (Australians and New Zealanders) against the Turks lasted from April 25, 1915 until January, 1916. The Germans had given their Turkish Allies Big Guns to control the Dardanelles to keep the Allies from taking Istanbul and being able to supply Russia through the Black Sea. The Allies failure to do this and the Germans sending Lenin into Russia in a Railcar did knock Russia out of the War (clever tricks). During the Gallipoli Campaign an unknown Lt. Colonel, Mustafa Kemal, came into prominence and became the Turks' inspirational leader. Before the War Turkey was regarded as the "Sick Man of Europe," and most of its Empire was "owned" by French and English Bondholders. Mustafa Kemal could get the Turks to do things that they ordinarily wouldn't do. Being promoted to a Division Commander he told the Turks at one point when they were out of ammunition, "I'm not ordering you to attack, I'm ordering you to die, we'll buy time for our replacements." This desperate effort worked and most of the Turks involved didn't die. Anzac Day, April 25, is a huge holiday in Australia and New Zealand, though the Turks wonder why they'd celebrate a defeat. After the War Turkey won its War of Independence and the Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 with Mustafa Kemal as its 1st President. He wanted a Secular State that had close ties to the West. He latinized the Alphabet, women no longer had to wear the veil because he thought it was stupid, he tried to get the Call to Prayer to be in Turkish and not Arabic, and he often wore a tuxedo. A lot of the Turks are light, Mustafa Kemal had blue eyes. In reference to the many thousands of dead Allies buried in Turkey he said, "Whether a Mehmet or a Tommy, They are Ours." Mustafa Kemal wasn't too Moslem-like, a heavy drinker he died in 1938 at the age of "57," and is revered by the Turks as Ataturk, Father of the Turks. Every time I'm in Turkey I always go to Troy. Excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in the k1870's, it was where Homer said it was. Homer's Troy is the 7th of the 9 Cities on that location, to get to Troy just take a van that goes out there from Canakkale, it's about 15 miles. I'll believe that Schliemann found "Priam's Treasure" in the ruins of Troy when I see Pigs Fly, he found it elsewhere. To be at Troy is very exciting. Achilles slew Hector, refusing his father's, King Priam's, ransom for the return of his Son's Body, Achilles tied Hector's naked body behind his chariot and drove around the City 3 times while lashing his horses. To wander the ruins of Troy is a very good time. Hey, they have a Wooden Horse at the Entrance and you can go inside it, I did this with a bunch of Japanese tourists.