Anzac Day tours
from Istanbul covering Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Canakkale, Troy
in Turkey.
1st World War Memorials of Australia and New Zealand Soldiers.
TOUR PACKAGES
Package Tours for Anzac Day 2008 Gallipoli
Anzac Day Tour -A
4 Days - 3 Nights Istanbul and Gallipoli Price Range:
99-361 GB Pound per person
Anzac Day Tour - B
7 Days / 6 Nights Gallipoli - Anzac Day Tour Price Range:
189-534 GB Pound per person
Anzac Day Tour - C
9 Days / 8 Nights -All Around Turkey, including blue cruise Price Range:
439-589 GB Pound per person
Anzac Day Tour - D
6 Days / 5 Night Gallipoli - Dawn Service Only. Includes Bursa tours Price Range:
149-481 GB Pound per person
Rates Includes:
All transportations with new model coaches
All ferry tickets to cross the Dardanelles
Accommodation
All meals mentioned in the itinerary
English speaking professional tour guide
All museum tickets mentioned in the itinerary
WHAT IS ANZAC DAY ?
Anzac Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New
Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every
year to honor members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
(ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It
now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in
military operations for the country. Anzac Day is also observed in
the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.
Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first major military action
fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World
War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army
Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs. Anzac Day remains one
of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New
Zealand. This is a rare instance of two sovereign countries not
only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to
both countries in its name.
Anzac Day was gazetted as a public holiday in New Zealand in 1920,
through the Anzac Day Act, after lobbying by the New Zealand
Returned Soldiers Association,the RSA. In Australia at the 1921
State Premiers' Conference, it was decided that Anzac Day would be
observed on 25 April each year. However, it was not observed
uniformly in all the States.
With the coming of the Second World War, Anzac Day became a day on
which to commemorate the lives of Australians and New Zealanders
lost in that war as well and in subsequent years. The meaning of
the day has been further broadened to include those killed in all
the military operations in which the countries have been involved.
Dawn service
After the First World War, returned soldiers sought the
comradeship they felt in those quiet, peaceful moments before
dawn. With symbolic links to the dawn landing at Gallipoli, a dawn
stand-to or dawn ceremony became a common form of Anzac Day
remembrance during the 1920s.
In Turkey the name "ANZAC Cove" was officially recognized by the
Turkish government on Anzac Day in 1985. In 1934, Kemal Ataturk
delivered the following words to the first Australians, New
Zealanders and British to visit the Gallipoli battlefields. This
was later inscribed on a monolith at Ari Burnu Cemetery ( ANZAC
Beach ) which was unveiled in 1985 and the words also appear on
the Kemal Atatürk Memorial, Canberra:
"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."
In 1990, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing,
Government officials from Australia and New Zealand as well as
most of the last surviving Gallipoli veterans, and many Australian
and New Zealand tourists travelled to Turkey for a special Dawn
Service at Gallipoli. The Anzac Day Gallipoli Dawn Service has
since attracted upwards of 15,000 people. Until 1999, the
Gallipoli Dawn Service was held at the Ari Burnu War Cemetery at
Anzac Cove, but the growing numbers of people attending resulted
in the construction of a more spacious site on North Beach, known
as the "Anzac Commemorative Site" in time for the year 2000
service.
