Anzac Cove

[Eceabat]

Pals,

Earlier in this thread there was reference to the need for others apart from Australians, New Zealanders and Turks to get involved in the debate over the works on the Gallipoli Peninsula and I mentioned the British All-Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group, which I know followed the Senate inquiry in Australia last year and the developments on the Peninsula. (I incorrectly called it the House of Lords All-Party Parliamentary War Graves and Battlefields Heritage Group in a previous posting, opps).

Below is a link to a site of the Senate Inquiry into the Gallipoli, which shows a letter from Lord Faulkner, the head of the British committee, in which he outlines some of the steps taken by the committee to seek further information, and comments on the findings of the inquiry.

http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/fap...gs/add_info.htm

I just posted this to let you know that at least someone is showing concern.

Bill, there is no chance of a Club Med in the area. I mean, the Gallipoli Peninsula is washed by the waters of the Aegean, so it would have to be Club Aeg. What you said about the time limit on responding to the Senate inquiry’s findings was disturbing, this would mean that the deadline is April 12. Given the Australian government’s rejection of the majority report of the committee, any response is likely to be fairly tame, if there is a response at all.

I have some more pics I will be posting shortly of the latest state of the road around the ANZAC coastal strip. In his evidence to the Australian Senate Estimates Committee last week, Mr Mark Sullivan, the Secretary for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs said there was no risk to the safe conducting of the ANZAC Day ceremonies. Nor is there, as long as everyone is prepared to walk (and tread carefully).

Cheers

Bill

[Eceabat]

Bill,

re your comment about Club Med. Of course it could actually be Club MEF (as in Club Mediterranean Expeditionary Force)

Cheers

Bill S

[Auimfo]

Bill (Eceabat)

Thanks for the link. Very interesting letter. I'd suggest that the Aust. Govt form an All-Party Committee but I'm pretty certain that it would soon turn into a game of one-upmanship at the expense of the ANZAC heritage. When are the pollies going to realize that this matter isn't a political issue for point scoring but a heritage one where a bi-partisan approach is required.

Sometimes I just want to bang some heads together in the hope of knocking some sense into them.

I'll be very interested to see your new photos but imagine they will just be even more depressing. Would you mind if I use them to forward to various media outlets in the hope of drumming up some scandal that the government can't simply keep sidestepping.

I know you're a journo yourself and didn't want to use them without your permission in case you had plans yourself.

Tim L.

[Eceabat]

Tim,

shall we just say that certain photos are being provided to certain media organs in Australia and hopefully will make their way into print in the near future.

As to the Australian All Party committee, good idea but as you say, probably a non-starter. Given the bickering that went on in the Senate Inquiry I wouldn't hold out much hope. That said, the British committee deals with bi-partisan issues rather than holding an inquest as to what happened at a site, who was responsible and who should be blamed (the last two aren't necessarily the same thing).

As I understand it, Australian officials are now here in the Gallipoli region to assess the state of the road and to hold talks with Turkish officials regarding the forthcoming ANZAC Day commemorative services. Be nice to be a fly on the wall.

Cheers

Bill

[Guest Bill Woerlee]

Bill

G'day mate

Be nice to be a fly on the wall.

Not really. This is how the conversation would go:

Oz: We are getting some flak from home about the things happening at Anzac. What's your plan.

Turk: Our glorious army, praise to Attaturk, wants to put an eight lane super highway along the beachfront so our people can marvel at the struggle faced by our glorious troops and then scuba dive at Club MEF to be built at Suvla Bay.

Oz: What a cracker of an idea! I don't see any problems there. Go right ahead. We'll toss in the token tame engineers who will agree to anything you guys want - well we are paying them.

Turk: It's a done deal. Another glorious victory for Attaturk, bless his name.

Oz: And for Oz Turk relations. We'll roll over anytime for you.

And that's it. I betcha London to a brick that this is how the conversation will go, if not exactly, a facsimile of it.

Cheers

Bill

[Eceabat]

Bill,

I think you were a bit stiff on the Turkish army at least, they aren’t the ones involved in the developments on the battlefields. That responsibility lies with the ruling moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party government.

Everyone will be pleased to know that Turkish authorities announced on February 22, following a visit to the region by an Australian and New Zealand delegation, that any problems with the roads will be put right in time for April 25.

As such, visitors to the ANZAC Cove sector travelling on the road near the entrance to Shrapnel Gully won’t be confronted by this:

[Eceabat]

And I am sure this one a the centre of ANZAC Cove is an easy fix too:

[Eceabat]

No one said anything in public about the erosion problem, which Australian officials have said doesn’t exist, so I am not sure what happened about this:

[Guest Bill Woerlee]

Bill

G'day mate

I hang my head in shame over my comments about the Turkish Army.

Erosion????

These are just wonderful riverlets lovingly etched into the soil by the same fairies who advise Alexander Downer.

And that same fellow Downer then comes on like Sergeant Shultz:

"I know nussing."

So Bill, no more criticism please - no one knows anything in the Australian Government. Even the Minister for Morning Teas, aka Veterans Affairs seems to know nothing. It is infectous.

In the meantime Bill, keep those pix coming as you visit. They are sad reminders that lip service and genuine service are mutually exclusive.

Cheers

Bill

[Eceabat]

Hi Pals,

Just thought I’d post some comments that appeared in the local Canakkale media recently made by Professor Mustafa Kemal Yalinkilic, the director of Turkey’s National Parks General Directorate, relating to the ANZAC sector road.

"Last year 60 percent of the road was completed. However, by the order of the Foreign Ministry, the construction of the road was stopped. Due to this reason, it was made operational without being completed. Not having the drainage system completed and not having the retaining walls built resulted in the collapse of the road. If the road was fully completed these problems would not have occurred. Our Prime Minister’s Office, in a written order dated 22 February, has informed us the decision to continue repairing of the collapses on what is publicly known as the ANZAC Road, or the Anafartalar Seaside Road. And now we have started to complete the remaining work on the road. However, the project will be revised, the deficiencies left on the road will be resolved and be completed and it will be made operational in a modern way. We are planning to complete the works we going to conduct by the 25 April ANZAC ceremony. However, it might not be finished by that day. This is why we will show care to act as fast as we can. When the road is fully completed no more problems will be encountered."

These comments raise a number of interesting points. One is that while the Turkish Foreign Ministry did order a halt to work on the road in August, it was in fact put into use on April 23, with work being stopped on the later stages at that time due to representations by Australian and New Zealand officials (believe it or not).

The second point to ponder is the news that the work on the road is going to resume (it hasn’t yet) on the order of the Prime Minister. So, what happened to agreement reached between Australian and Turkish authorities that no further development would take place in the ANZAC sector until such time as a full historical and archaeological survey was conducted of the area by a joint Australian-Turkish team of experts? This agreement was reached by Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on about April 26 last year.

In a statement made to the Australian Senate’s Estimates Committee in mid February, Mark Sullivan, the secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, confirmed that this survey had not taken place. Errr…?

Yalinkilic’s comments were made around the time an Australian and New Zealand delegation was visiting the Canakkale region, so I hope someone told them what the plans were.

Cheers

Bill

[Guest Bill Woerlee]

"I know nussing! I see nussing!"

Thanx for the heads up Bill.

Cheers

Bill

[Eceabat]

Actually Bill, given the number of official delegations that come here, the Senate inquiry, Sentate Estimates committee discussions and media reports, I'd say it was a case of "I know a lot, I see a lot, I do nussing".

It can be easy to stick your head in the sand when there is so much of it shifting downhill.

Cheers

Bill

[Eceabat]

My, my, my,

what have we here? It seems as if the Australian government has at least been prodded into action over the destruction wrought in the ANZAC sector of the Gallipoli battlefields.

The Australian newspaper the Age on Sunday March 5 carried a report that the government was setting aside $A16 million to "repair controversial earthworks that damaged the Gallipoli battlefields in Turkey last year".

The article quotes new Veterans' Affairs Minister Bruce Billson as saying: "We've made expertise available to make sure that it treads as lightly on that land as we can".

The article also said that: "The Government is moving to regain control of the issue after former ministers failed to respond to reports that earthworks to deal with the growing crowds visiting Gallipoli had disturbed bone fragments, and criticism it changed the landscape".

It should be noted that all of this is dependant on the outcome of negotiations with the Turkish authorities, who at times have different views of battlefield preservation versus tourism. However, it is an interesting development and one that will be worth following.

The full Age article can be found at:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/aus...1191889546.html

Cheers

Bill

[Auimfo]

We can only hope that Bruce Billson does a better job than his predecessors. Although the article suggests new positive attitudes by the govt, it's still far too late to undo what they've already done and they need to make sincere amends before I'll ever trust them again.

Tim L.

[Ozzie]

What? You actually trust them? You are a braver person than I.

Cheers

Kim

[Andrew P]

We can only hope that Bruce Billson does a better job than his predecessors. Although the article suggests new positive attitudes by the govt, it's still far too late to undo what they've already done and they need to make sincere amends before I'll ever trust them again.

Tim L.

Hmmm, he would be hard pressed to do any worse

[Eceabat]

Kim,

of course we should trust the pollies when they say they have the situation in hand and will fix the problems, just like we trusted them when they said there were no problems to be fixed.

As Tim says, it is too late to undo what has been done, what is important it to ensure that a bad situation doesn't get made even worse.

Cheers

Bill

[Auimfo]

Hmmm, he would be hard pressed to do any worse

Actually, after I typed my last post this very thought crossed my mind.

Even Kath and Kim could do a better job! (or was that who really did run the dept).

Tim L.

[Guest Bill Woerlee]

Tim

Look at me ... look at me ... look at me.

The Minister for Morning Teas will make sure Parliament knows that they are investigating something and will make some stunning revelations to which another committee will be set up to devise recommendations so that a new round of studies and committees can be formed and somewhere along the line preserve something.

Billson is a junior minister with no cabinet pull - his only job is to sign off on travel allowances and rec leave for the SES officers - for the rest it is up to other ministers. So don't hold your breat here.

I think you are correct - Kath and Kim coould do a better job.

Cheers

Bill

[Mat McLachlan]

No need to panic everyone... This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph (Sydney) today, demonstrating that, in spite of all appearances, someone does appear to be driving the Gallipoli bus. In my opinion it shows incredible foresight to decide that the playing of Bee Gees songs and a general piss-up is not quite the right way to commemorate the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers... Considering how 'united in their commitment to protect and preserve the former battlefield' these guys are, I'm sure they'll soon reach the conclusion that a four-lane highway complete with restaurants and hotels might not be such a hot idea on the Peninsula. (Please note general tone of exasperated sarcasm before replying).

BOOZE BAN FOR ANZAC CROWDS

THERE will be no booze and no Bee Gees and visitors to this year's Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli will be given garbage bags.

Announcing arrangements for the 91st anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, Veterans Affairs Minister Bruce Billson said the Australian, New Zealand and Turkish governments were united in their commitment to protect and preserve the former battlefield in Turkey.

Mr Billson, flanked by Turkish Ambassador Murat Ersavciand and RSL head Major General Bill Crews at the Australian War Memorial, said many lessons were learned in dealing with the record crowd which attended the 90th anniversary activities last year.

He said that had resulted in a number of improvements, with an updated transport plan to address road congestion, better food vending arrangements, improved seating and more toilets.

"Alcohol will be banned," he said.

"The improvements should address many of last year's concerns and we will continue to give consideration as to how best to cater for the large crowds as we approach 2015, the 100th anniversary of the Anzac landings."

Mr Billson said last year there was a lot of rubbish left behind and this year members of the group Conservation Volunteers Australia would undertake a post-commemoration cleanup.

[Guest Bill Woerlee]

Ahh

Look who the Minister for Morning Teas had over to look very very very serious:

Murat Ersavciand, the Turkish Ambassador and Major General Bill Crews, RSL head.

But nothing was said about preventing the erosion - just getting a freeby from volunteers to go on an emu hunt after Anzac Day. Not even a dollar committed to this requirement.

Could that be because the Minister for Morning Teas has no more in his budget than Monte Carlos and some Nescafe?

[Eceabat]

Pals,

A couple of points about the latest announcements from Canberra. Alcohol has always been banned from the Dawn Service and indeed in all CWGC sites on the Peninsula (the ban is even mentioned in the Lausanne treaty, that much ignored document). It is just that local authorities have until recently not bothered to enforce the ban and the Australians didn’t push). Secondly, the 2005 ANZAC Day Dawn Service was the least loutish that I can remember, with only a handful of people managing to smuggle booze in. The Turkish authorities did a very good job of searching most of those entering the Dawn Service site and I thought the crowds’ behaviour was generally commendable, especially given the size and the cramped conditions. Credit to them.

Secondly, despite what the Minister said, there are garbage bins stationed around the edge of the Dawn Service site and at sites of other commemorative services. Always have been. Just is there are not enough of them. When I raised this issue ahead of ANZAC Day last year I was told by an Australian official that reason for there not being more bins was not security but of space.

I was always told that when I went out somewhere, like to a national park, if I took stuff with me, I should bring it back if there weren’t proper disposal facilities. Works for me. Now we are going to fly out a bunch of people to clean up after the ceremonies at a cost to the taxpayer. What about spending the money on paying locals to do the same thing, put something into the Turkish economy and help out in a region that has more than its share of unemployed or financially struggling people.

If it came to that, the Australian government could pay the National Parks Authority to do what they do every year anyway, clean up the crap left behind by visitors. Again, they work hard at this and deserve some credit for it (yes, I can say nice things about the Turkish National Park Authority when it is their due).

Just a rant.

Cheers

Bill

PS. in some of the media reports I saw, the minister was quoted as saying there would be vending machines rather than better food vending services. Gees (even Bee Gees) I hope that was a error on the part of some journo taking notes.

[Eceabat]

Pals,

the Australian newspaper the Daily Telegraph has weighed into the debate over the roadworks again, with an article that is now on their website at:

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story/0,...5001022,00.html

Nice pic to go with it.

Cheers

Bill

[Guest Bill Woerlee]

Mates

The Minister for Morning Teas was interviewed on Radio National with Fran Kelly this morning - he sounded tough. 24 Conservation Australia volunteers will be used to clean the site up - they will receive a "modest" contribution to their costs.

One thing that will happen is the presence of a cappuccino machine and barista on site so that folks arriving the night before can sit right down and have a coffee and find themselves a spot to sleep - but not on the graves. There will be more bins and more military style entertainment. Bags will be checked before entering the area and all grog confiscated.

This sounds like another well planned committment to Anzac and the Dawn Service.

Cheers

Bill

[Andrew P]

Sky News Australia this morning had a report on the Gallipoli roadworks and Anzac Day but the report seemed more concerned about the commemorations on Anzac Day going ahead rather than the damage & erosion from the road works.