Turkey's Çataldere Martyrs' Monument and Cemetery at Gallipoli

Top Down View from the Entrance

In  May 1915—less than a month after the initial Allied landings—Turkish commanders concentrated 40,000 men along the series of high ridges that would constitute the front line of the Anzac sector for the entire Gallipoli campaign. The hope was to push the invaders into the sea before they could be further reinforced.  The attack, however, was well anticipated by the defenders and the assault tactics were primitive, similar to the "human-wave" methods of the Korean War.  An estimated 3,000 Johnny Turks died on 19 May—they would be described as "martyrs" in Turkish accounts.   

Entrance Memorial

Their bodies, and those of a much smaller number of defenders, were left in no-man's-land, where they decomposed rapidly. With the environment becoming unendurable for the troops, commanders on both sides were open to a cease-fire to clear the fallen from the battlefield.  A 24-hour truce was   agreed to for 24 May 1915.

Aerial View from Google Maps

The smaller number of Australian and New Zealand casualties were manageable and easily removed to temporary cemeteries down toward Anzac Cove. The Turks, however, had a massive problem to deal with in a very short time. They selected a deep ravine a few hundred yards behind their trenches for the initial burial of their martyrs. After the war, the decision was made not to re-inter the bodies, but to turn the ravine into a shrine. This resulted in a truly unique, impressively engineered cemetery and monument. It is now the final resting place of 2,835 of Turkey's martyrs. 

View from the Lower Section

The topside entrance, which features several commemorative elements, opens to the stone steps that allow the visitor an easy walk down the the steep slope to the two main cemetery sections. Each is composed of several long rectangular mass graves. The names of the martyrs for each tomb are engraved.

I hope these photos give readers a sense of its beauty and remarkable design.